Blue Bird: Fledgling
by ShadowsGrace
Summary: “Luck, Robin, luck, that was all that allowed me to defeat Bane. He underestimated me once and it cost him everything, he will not do so again.” Bane has escaped prison and is out for revenge, and the name at the top of his list is that of a small, blue b
1. Prolog

**Prolog**

_They laughed at him as he passed them; pointing at him and shouting insults as he was guided down the hall to his cell. _

_As he sat there in the dark, he thought. He had been a king; no one had dared to cross him without fear of being mangled beyond recognition. But now he was the laughing stock of the city. They no longer feared or respected him. And it was all because of her. _

_A weak, tiny pixie had come and destroyed his power with one swoop. He had seized her and held her off the ground with ease, she weighed almost nothing. He had been impressed by her courage and skill, but he had never dreamed that she would dare to try and fight him. But he had been wrong._

_She was too fast, flipping onto his arm and latching onto the tubes in his head before he had realized that she had moved. She was too small for him to reach as she pulled with all her might, and when she flipped through the air away from him she slipped through his fingers like water as he became weaker. She kept away from him until all went black._

_It was all her fault. He had underestimated her, that was the only reason she had been able to do what she did, and he would prove it. He would escape, he would have his vengeance, she would die in his hands, and he would force Batman to watch him do it, he would remind them that Bane was to be feared above all. _

_(Batman is not mine)_


	2. BirdRunners?

**Chapter One: Bird-runners?**

(AN: Batman is not mine)

A small shadow crouched on the roof of a waterside pub at one of Gotham Cities biggest seaports. It watched a group of men unloading crates from the hold of a cargo ship called 'The Seagull'.

The shadow was a fifteen-year-old vigilante whom the people of Gotham had named Blue-Jay. Most thought she was one of Batman's side-kicks, but the truth was she wasn't. She and the bat clan were on the same side, just not on the same team, Blue-Jay was more of a freelancer.

At first, the bat family had been hostile and distrustful of her, not that she blamed them; after all, they still weren't sure of her motive for putting on the mask. But after the crisis with Ra's Al Ghul trying to destroy the city, they had been forced to acknowledge Blue-Jay as a competent crime fighter. They still were not on the greatest of terms, but they had gained a respect for her when she had risked her life in an attempt to stop Ra's, and she had gained a greater respect for them, having saved her after she had been captured.

They were tentative allies, though Blue-Jay was hoping they'd warm up to her a little more over time.

"You've been practicing." Blue-Jay said suddenly, focusing her binoculars on the cargo hold. A moment later, another small figure came out of the shadows. This one was dressed in a costume similar to hers, only his was red and black to her blue and grey, also, his hair was short, messy and black, while hers was long, smooth and platinum blond.

Robin approached her, frowning. She seemed to sense his mood because she lowered her binoculars and turned to look at him "I mean it, you're improving." She said and motioned for him to come up beside her.

He settled into a crouch beside her, pulling out his own binoculars and looking where she was looking. He hadn't said anything, but she thought she could detect a small hint of pride at her compliment.

"I have a question for you." He said suddenly "Shoot." "That night when we first er…_met_, why did you attack me?" "I wanted to see what you were capable of. And I got more than I expected, like a handful of bruises." "Oh." He was silent for a moment before speaking again "But then why did you handcuff me to a tree and kiss me?" "The handcuffs were more of insurance that you wouldn't follow me, and the kiss…" she paused, then said, smiling slightly "Whether you're wearing your mask or not, you're still cute."

He stared at her for a moment before she noticed a small blush creep into his cheeks. He reached up and rubbed the back of his head "You think I'm cute?" he asked, a little awkwardly "Of course I do, and I'm not the only one. Just try Googleing 'Robin' and you'll see what I mean." He looked at her quizzically for a moment before turning his attention back to the ship.

"What are we looking at?" He asked. "Gunrunners, not sure what the shipment is though, so I've been hanging back. But I _do _know that only a fraction of the shipment is staying in Gotham, the rest is going to Kaznia." Robin was staring at her again. "What?" "How do you know this stuff?" "Inside information and a lot of hard-core hacking." He seemed to want to ask more, but decided that that she wasn't likely to say more and once again looked back at the boat.

"When do we go in?" Robin asked after about ten minuets of silence. "We don't." he gave her an odd look "We tip the cops off about the shipment to Kaznia, then follow the merchandise that stays in Gotham to the dealers. It may put more guns on the streets for a small amount of time, but it will also let us map out their operation and, hopefully, lead us to the kingpin."

This seemed to pacify the boy, but what she didn't mention was that she already knew who the kingpin was: her own father.

"And what next?" Blue-Jay and Robin both started a little as Batman came out of the shadows not five feet from them. "We follow and track the shipments that are leaving the country and find out who the buyers are." He nodded, seeing sense in it as she went back to watching.

About five minuets later, she put away her binoculars and jumped off the roof, landing on a windowsill below before jumping onto a pile of crates and then climbing down them. Robin followed before Batman could stop him.

Blue-Jay moved quickly and quietly through the shadows of the crates until she was close to the van that the Gotham shipment was being loaded into. Feeling someone behind her she glanced back, and saw that Robin had followed her. He came up beside her once she spotted him and they both crouched low, waiting.

But their opportunity never came, because before they were able to make their move for the truck, Batman grabbed them by the shoulders and pulled them back. Blue-Jay turned to look at him and he nodded to their right. They looked, and saw another truck coming up to the boat to be loaded. Blue-Jay narrowed her eyes in confusion. What was the other truck being loaded with?

Her eyes widened when she saw what: Birds.

Cage after cage of birds was being loaded into the truck, parakeets, falcons, eagles, sea birds, and more. Blue-Jay had to suppress a groan and rolled her eyes. She knew what those were for.

Batman and Robin, however, were mystified. After all, what would gunrunners be doing with birds? Batman made to pull out a tracker but Blue-Jay stopped him "Don't bother; I know where those are going." He raised an eyebrow but shot the tracker at the truck carrying the guns instead, just moments before it drove off.

After the truck was gone, the three slipped silently away from the docks. Batman leading, the two small teens following side by side.

When they were a safe distance from the ship, Batman asked "Mind telling us what the birds were for?" but there was no answer, he and Robin turned, to find that the girl was gone.

* * *

(Review please)

(AN: Sorry it took me a while, I've been having some writers-block. But I'll do my best to return said block to one of my cousins' old play sets, where it belongs.)


	3. The Birthday Bird

**Chapter Two: The Birthday Bird**

(AN: Batman is not mine)

RJ Falcon woke with a yawn. She was in her bed; she suspected Pierre had put her there after she had fallen asleep at the computer last night. Last night. She groaned and covered her head with her pillow.

As thrilled as she was to be getting a load of new birds and a second aviary for her sixteenth birthday, that delivery would not only risk exposing her parents to the Bat clan, it could also put her secret in jeopardy, for you see RJ and Blue-Jay were one and the same.

It had been pure fluke that she had become the girl wonder. She had made her costume for the costume party Pierre had convinced her to go to, the one where Bane had attempted to take all of the guests hostage and for good reason. Many of the people attending the party had been among Gotham's elite, including herself, not that many people knew that she existed.

Bane and his men had mistaken her for one of the Bat clan and she had been forced to fight back. Being the expert martial artist that she was, RJ had had no real trouble taking out Bane's thugs, but the only real reason that she had been able to deal with Bane was because he had underestimated her.

The hostages and the police had seen her before she got away, using one of the grapples that Batman and his friends had left behind on one of their patrols. Things had proceeded to get very complicated from there.

Blue-Jay was probably one of the few heroes to receive her motivation to put on the mask _after _her first night out. That motivation was the discovery of her parents' real activities.

Germaine and Carmine Falcon were, to the public, globetrotters. But RJ knew better, their so called travels were nothing more than fronts to hide the fact that Germaine ran one of the worlds largest gunrunning rings and Carmine was at the head of one of the worlds most extensive drug smuggling operations, both of which had main ports right there in Gotham, all under the guise if a tech. company.

RJ had felt responsible, blaming herself for all the drugs and guns her parents had put on the streets, even though she knew full well that there was no way she could have done anything before then. Also, there was something more personal in it. Her parents had had her, and then had just gone back to work, leaving her at home.

In part, she was grateful for this, growing up away from their negative influence and dirty business. But she was also bitter that the first time she had met her parents was when she was six and a half years old.

She had always been alone, aside from Pierre and her birds, until she had become Blue-Jay. When she had gone out on the streets, she knew that the Bat clan would be, for the most part, on her side, even if they didn't like her very much. And she also had a real friend for the first time in her life: Tim Drake, aka Robin.

She had long since uncovered the identities of the Bat clan, though she never spoke of it, for their reassurance as they were aware of her knowledge. But they had yet to discover who she was, though she was tempted to tell Robin. She had the feeling that Batman had assumed that, as the first time RJ had made a public appearance was with her parents at a party several months ago, that RJ had spent most of her life globetrotting with them.

Yawning again, RJ got out of bed and went into her bathroom.

After taking a quick shower, she toweled off and dressed in her usual jeans and T-shirt. After pulling on an old pair of tennis shoes, RJ went out to her aviary, the one that had birds in it. Germaine had had a second one built not far from the first, but there were no birds in it yet. Though there would be.

Heading for one particular area in the back of the aviary, RJ selected one cage and took it outside. Setting id down beside a large metal box just outside the door, RJ opened the box and pulled out a long piece of twine, one end of which had a small loop and the other end having a larger one.

Fastening the big loop around her wrist, RJ then reached into the covered cage and carefully slipped the other loop around the foot of the bird inside before slowly taking it out.

Immediately the bird tried to fly away, only to be stopped by the 'leash' that RJ kept a tight hold on. The bird was a particularly large robin of unusual coloring. Instead of being brown with an orange breast, it was black with a bright red breast. RJ thought that he might have been an unlikely cross between a cardinal and a robin, but couldn't be sure, having never heard of that happening before, it could easily just be a genetic quirk.

She let the bird struggle against the leash for a few moments before getting him to land on her gloved hand. She stroked him gently until he calmed down, before standing and walking slowly out into the open.

Carefully letting out some more leash, she let the bird fly again. He flew in circles, each time with a little more leash, before she began to bring him back in again, letting out a whistle of three sharp notes as she did so.

She continued to do this until he would come to her hand when she whistled, not making her use the leash to pull him back. They practiced for several hours before she decided that was enough for today and put him back in his cage.

After returning him to his spot in the aviary, RJ fed and watered the tired bird, giving him a few treats before locking the cage and approaching a different one.

This cage was larger and she was much more careful with it as she brought it slowly to the door.

When she set the cage down, RJ put the small leash away and brought out one that was a little more heavy-duty, seeing as the occupant of this cage would cut through the smaller one with relatively little trouble.

Putting the leash on, RJ carefully put the leash onto the bird in the cage before bringing him out. The bird was a large, gorgeous raven. His feathers smooth and shiny as the sunlight gave them a purple and violet sheen. "Hello, handsome." She said, stroking him with gentle fingers. He turned his head and gave her a gentle nip on one fingertip as a gesture of recognition.

She knew he would not hurt her, but he still had a bit of training to do, and he was a bird to be respected. He only answered to her or Uno, for Uno was the king of the roost and he stood tall on RJ's shoulder, having perched there while RJ had been bringing out the cage, as if to remind the younger bird of that fact.

Uno was a magnificent bird. The largest of his kind RJ had ever come across, but that might have been due to the fact that he had been with her almost his entire life.

He had been a baby when she had found him on the grounds, only just learning to fly. He had flown into a window and had been unable to get up on his own. She had scooped him up and taken him home with her, where she had nursed him back to health, mostly on her own but with occasional help from Pierre.

She had intended to let him go once he was healthy again, but the collision with the window had caused him to go blind in one eye, meaning he was not likely to make it on his own. And there was also the fact that he refused to leave. Uno had never been 'trained' really, it had never been necessary; all she had taught him to do was respond to her whistle.

She flew the raven around for several hours before she called him to her arm and put him back into the cage.

It was then that she discovered her audience. Not only was Tim there, but Dick, and Barbara as well. "Hi guys." She said, smiling at them. Tim and Barbara smiled back as they approached, but Dick was still looking at the now caged bird with an odd expression on his face.

When they reached her, Dick knelt down by the cage as the other two wished RJ a happy birthday. The raven stared back at him and cocked his head at the human. "He likes you." RJ commented, pulling Dick's attention away from the bird. "What's his name?" he asked "He doesn't have one yet, I suspect his owner will give him one." "Owner?" "He's not for me, he's for a customer." "Oh." They could all tell that he was disappointed, but RJ was smiling inwardly, because she was training the bird for Nightwing.

"Come on, let's go up to the house once I put him back." RJ said and they followed her into the aviary. Dick and Barbara marveled at all the birds as RJ filled the raven's food and water dishes.

"Let's go, I'm betting more guests will be arriving soon and I doubt Pierre will let me wear this to my party." She indicated her dirty jeans and T-shirt as she spoke.

* * *

(Review please) 


	4. The Party

**Chapter Three: The Party**

(AN: Batman is not mine)

"Ah, there you are Robyn." Germaine said and Bruce and Tim turned to look behind them.

RJ was descending the stairs quickly, her blond hair slightly damp from her shower and wearing clean clothes. She was wearing a pale blue halter top and a white skirt that went to her knees, with a black belt and black shoes. Her hair was still up in a ponytail but now it was brushed and shiny. The look was finished off with a lightweight white jacket that you could see through a little. She was beautiful.

"Hello, Mr. Wayne." She said, smiling at him. He smiled in return, saying "Hello, and happy birthday, RJ." "Thank you, and thanks for coming." "Thank you for inviting me."

Once the niceties were exchanged, RJ and Tim hurried off to the rest of the arriving guests, which were comprised of most of Gotham's elite and their children, for example Mayor Hill and his son Jordan. Unfortunately, there were also some people there that, while it was not a surprise to have there, she would rather not have seen. Oswald Cobblepot a.k.a. Penguin arrived not long after the Hills. "Hello, Robyn, my dear!" He said, kissing her hand. She smiled in reply "Hello, Mr. Cobblepot, and thank you for coming." "It is a pleasure, my dear."

Rupert Thorne also turned up, along with Carlton Ducane. Even Lex Luthor had received an invite.

Her parents had invited most of them, but RJ had said that, as it was her party, she deserved to make at least part of the guest list. Her choices had been, Bruce, Tim and Dick as a family, Barbara Gordon and her father Jim Gordon, Matthew Thorne, brother of Rupert Thorne, Cathy Ducane, Veronica Vreeland, District Attorney Vandorne, Britt Reid and his aid, Kado, whom she had been able to convince to come all the way from D.C., and Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

Most of the people on RJ's half of the guest list were more to counter the people that her parents had invited than out of her own small pool of acquaintances. Bruce, Tim, Dick and Barbara were invited because they were her friends, but the others she had met only once or just in passing. She wondered if anyone would notice this.

Her parents had hired a band and a singer for the night and she almost immediately dragged Tim out onto the dance floor with the other kids after greeting all of the guests.

* * *

"Quite an interesting group of guests, wouldn't you say?" Clark asked Bruce as they talked over a glass of wine. Bruce nodded, "I never thought I would see _both _Thorne brothers in the same place _willingly._" Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and he looked even more closely at the adult guests. "In fact, each of the more criminally inclined people here has someone to offset them." Clark raised an eyebrow and Bruce elaborated.

"Rupert Throne, Penguin, Carlton Ducane, and Lex Luthor on one side." He nodded to each of them as he said their names "Then on the other side we have Matthew Thorne, Jim Gordon, D.A. Vandorne, and you and Lois on the other." Clark looked puzzled "Do you think someone did that on purpose?" "I don't know," Bruce replied "But I intend to find out."

They fell silent for a few minuets and Bruce's eye wandered over the dance floor, where a slow song was now playing. A small smile came onto his face when he spotted RJ and Tim dancing slowly together. _'Just friends, huh?" _he thought, amused.

* * *

As they danced, Tim smiled at RJ "Have you been having a good birthday?" he asked. She smiled back "Yep, the best I've ever had." "Excuse me?" Lex Luthor had come over "If I may dance with the birthday girl?" She looked at Tim, who shrugged and said "Dance again later?" "Gladly."

It must have been rather amusing to see RJ dancing with Lex Luthor; he was a foot taller than her, after all. After a few minuets of dancing with Lex, Penguin tapped him on the shoulder and said "If I may?"

Oswald Cobblepot was even shorter than RJ, but she was surprised that he danced better than one would expect. "So, my dear." He said "Are you sure you won't train me a few penguins?" she smiled "Ozzy, you know that I can't, there just isn't enough room for me to train penguins." He chuckled "I know, but I had to ask."

RJ danced with Carlton Ducane, the Thorne brothers, Jim Gordon, Dick, Brit Reid, Clark Kent, Bruce and Tim again before sitting down to rest.

"Your feet are going to be sore in the morning." Cathy Ducane told her, RJ smiled and said "Their sore right now." Cathy, Veronica and Lois laughed as she winced slightly. "I have to say, it's hard to dance with a guy a foot taller than you!" RJ said, the other three smiled and Lois said "Don't worry, you'll grow into them." "I sure hope so."

Lois suddenly leaned forwards a little and asked "Robyn, while Clark and I were both delighted to be invited to your birthday party as guests, I was wondering why you invited two reporters from a different city?" "First off, call me RJ," RJ told her "And to answer your question, you and Mr. Kent didn't act like sharks around me when I made my first appearance. Oh, and if your wondering," she added "I met Mr. Reid a few years back and convinced him to come as well."

* * *

Lois smiled at her and RJ found herself liking the woman more and more every second, liking her a lot more than most of the other reporters she had ever met. But RJ had to admit, that what she had told Lois was only part of the reason she had asked the three reporters to come.

Her other, secret, reason for inviting them was because she had discovered a while back that Clark Kent was Superman.

It hadn't been that difficult, but she supposed that being a genius helped her case. She had been twelve when she had become fascinated with how the human mind could be fooled into thinking something just by how an object looked. Optical illusions. Especially with people, who commonly mistook one thing for another, even at close range, along with their tendency to not recognize something or someone when only a few slight modifications had been made to his or her profile.

RJ had realized that even simple modifications to the face could throw off the people with the best eyesight or memory.

Since Superman did not wear a mask while in costume, she had presumed that he would have to use such techniques to keep his identity a secret. Hair and eyes were two of the dominating facial features that could be easily changed in the time Superman would need to appear where he was needed. So RJ had first run an analysis on body type, then skin color, until she had a smaller database of likely candidates to work with.

In the end, the one perfect match had been Clark Kent.

* * *

The party went well, with nothing overly exiting happening other than more dancing with Tim. RJ was pleased with most of the gifts she had received: a new video game from Tim, a pair of bright red and black combat boots from Bruce (that had caused some raised eyebrows but it had been obvious that she loved them), a bright red and black trench coat from Barbara and Dick, a top of the line, untraceable lap-top computer from Luthor, and a lot of other cool gifts.

By the time the party was over and the guests went home, RJ knew that the new birds would be in the new aviary and her parents went to bed after giving her the key, as they would be leaving for Tokyo in the morning.

She ran across the grounds at top speed, letting herself into the large dome and looking around. It was beautiful and the birds inside were ones that she did not have in her first aviary. Some of them were so rare that it must have cost a lot of cash to get them out of the country. That must have been why they had been with the shipment of guns, illegally transporting endangered birds was not exactly something you wanted to be caught doing.

* * *

Batman retuned to the Falcon manor not long after the party had ended at eleven and all the guests had left.

Landing on RJ's balcony, it being more familiar to him, he was slightly suspicious to find that the doors/windows were open.

Silently skirting the bed, its closed hangings hiding the girl he guessed would be fast asleep by now, Batman had to be careful not to make any noise that might wake her.

Leaving her room, Batman carefully followed the hall to where he knew the study would be, having looked over the blue-prints of the house before coming.

* * *

The room was rich, with mahogany furniture and a large fireplace. It was clean, but there was a feeling in the room's atmosphere that said it was hardly ever used. There were a few papers on the desk and he looked through them. Catering receipts. Not what he was looking for.

He put the papers down and began to look through the drawers until he found a manila folder labeled 'Party'. In it was exactly what he had come for; the guest list. Or rather, the guest _lists, _there were two.

Batman frowned slightly as he looked the lists over. The first one was labeled: Main list. It had the most of the names of the guests it. The second list was much shorter, containing only a handful of names and was labeled Robyns' list. The names on RJ's list were Matthew Thorne, Barbara and Jim Gordon, DA Vandorne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Britt Reid, Cathy Ducane and Veronica Vreeland. RJ had invited the people that would most off-set the criminally inclined guests that her parents had invited. Why would she have done that?

Batman suddenly had the feeling that the Falcon family was not entirely as it seemed.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and Pierre stepping in. the elderly man looked startled, but then said "Master RJ is in her new aviary, if she is who you are looking for." New aviary? Suddenly what Blue-Jay had said the night before came back to him _'I know where those are going.' _Had the birds gone to RJ's new aviary? And if so, why had her parents transported them with a load of illegal guns?

After a second of thought, he walked past Pierre and headed for the window at the end of the hall. He was going to have to speak with RJ about the order for trained blue-jays she had received before, so he might as well ask a few extra questions while he was at it.

* * *

RJ made sure to stay quiet as she walked through the enclosures of birds, careful not to wake them. They were all so beautiful, she could hardly wait to start training them. After a while, she turned and left the building, locking the door behind her.

She was brought out of her musings by a small noise behind her. She turned around and looked into the shadows, but saw nothing. But RJ wasn't fooled, she knew he was there. "Just come out, will you?" she called softly. There was a moment of nothing, and then he materialized out of the shadows.

"Did you come to as about the blue-jays again?" she asked "Yes, you never contacted me." "They haven't been picked up yet." She told him, turning her back on him and heading for the House. She heard him follow close behind and he was suddenly in front of her, cutting off her path. Now RJ was starting to get slightly irritated.

"It takes time to train birds, especially a flock of them, but I'm almost done." She moved to go around him and back toward the house, but he cut her off again "That's not the only reason I wanted to talk to you." He said, looming over her and throwing her into shadow. She raised and eyebrow, "And why else would you want to talk to me?" "Why were there two guest lists? You specifically invited the people that you knew would balance out the people your parents invited." "Because I didn't want anything bad to happen on my birthday." She said softly "Is that a crime?"

He looked at her for a long moment and she forced herself not to fidget under his piercing gaze. She was in his shadow, meaning her face and expressions were obscured, but if they hadn't been, Batman might have seen traces of sadness and bitterness in her eyes.

But he didn't see them as he said "No, it isn't."

RJ tried to fight it but couldn't, and gave a massive yawn. The excitement and sugar-hype from the party was wearing off and she was getting very tired. She moved around Batman and continued up to the house, too tired to care whether or not he followed.

* * *

(Please Review) 


	5. Fragmented Clues

**Chapter Four: Fragmented Clues**

(AN: Batman is not mine)

Batman did not follow RJ back into the house, instead he headed back to the cave, a possible theory starting to form in his head.

* * *

WHAM! Batman slammed his fist down on the arm of his chair. He was back in the batcave, sitting at the batcomputer. He growled in frustration as he looked at the screen.

Testing his theory had only proven that RJ Falcon had never been _seen _in public with her parents until the party several months ago, but there was no proof that she hadn't merely been behind the scenes on their trips. Nor was there any evidence that she had spent any of that time in Gotham. In short, he had reopened the possibility that RJ Falcon was Blue-Jay, but he could not confirm it.

It was more than likely that RJ was Blue-Jay, they had the same body-type, were the same size, and had the same hair color. RJ also would have the money and the brains to pull it off, but did she have the training? Had she ever really been in Gotham very often over the years? She could easily have trained most of her birds while traveling, as her parents had houses in several countries. But he had no way of telling.

Batman sat back and let out a long breath, leaning his head back against the chair and thinking. He didn't have much choice, he would have to wait until Blue-Jay or RJ slipped up, or Blue-Jay decided to reveal her identity to him.

* * *

RJ woke later than normal, around nine o'clock, the party had been rather draining. She remembered what had happened after the guests had gone home and frowned. She would have to be extra careful now that Batman was looking at her closer than she would have liked, and it wouldn't hurt to have an emergency plan in case he ever discovered her identity. However, for now she would just relax a little bit and then get ready for patrolling that night. She would worry about Batman later.

Getting out of bed, she stretched and went into her bathroom. She showered and dressed before hurrying out to her new aviary, eager to see her new birds in the daylight.

* * *

With Uno on her shoulder RJ walked around the cages of new birds, keeping calm and quiet, allowing them to grow use to her presents, and to learn that Uno was the king of the roost. She smiled as he gazed at them all, holding himself up and looking imposing.

She would not be able to start training them for a while, as they needed to grow use to her first, to let them do that, she would walk around the aviary at least once a day and allow them to grow accustomed and comfortable around her. She had not had to do this with the birds in the other aviary because they had come to her in small numbers or one by one.

After a while, RJ left her new aviary and entered the original one. She went right over to the large raven she was training and took him outside.

She had decided to train the bird for Nightwing a while back, the reason being that he still didn't trust her completely, and neither did Batgirl or Batman, though it was the two men who were more wary of her. Robin had been relatively easy to win over, for which she was glad, she wanted to be on good terms with Tim both in and out of costume. She and Batgirl had a warmer relationship than the other two, but it was still far from the level of trust she had from Robin. But Blue-Jay would do what ever it took for them to trust her. No matter how long it took her to do it, she would.

* * *

Batman watched RJ fly the large raven around on the leash from a distance for several hours before putting it away and bringing out another bird, this one bright red and black. She flew this bird around for several more hours before putting it away as well and watching the raven that had been perched on her shoulder fly around a bit before Pierre called her for lunch.

She was doing nothing suspicious, and absolutely nothing was implying that she was Blue-Jay beyond his hunch, which was, in truth, hanging by a thread at the moment.

After she came back out, she went down to the stables, the raven still with her. Batman watched her for half the day before giving up for the time being and returning to the Batmobile.

* * *

After some horseback riding, RJ went back inside and headed for the roost. All day she had been brainstorming ways to throw Batman off her trail, and the one she had decided would be the best way to go would be to try and plant video evidence that would place her and Blue-Jay in different locations at the same time, making it seem that they were two different people. Simple, but hopefully effective.

Plopping down in front of the computer, Blue-Jay looked around in the video files that she had collected until she found the perfect footage.

The footage showed Blue-Jay in the Gotham library after it had closed, meaning no witnesses. Going over the file, she modified a few things, like the sign on the wall that had an announcement for a book sale that had ended at least a month ago.

She was extremely glad she had thought of this particular program. It was designed to copy and collect all the surveillance footage of both Blue-Jay and the batsquad and store it in a database on Roosts computer, not that there was that much of it to collect. It was a side program of her surveillance system. Blue-Jay had complete access to every surveillance system in the city, meaning she could see what ever any security camera in the city saw and know when and where crimes happened. It also helped to keep track of people she wanted to keep an eye on.

After doctoring the footage, Blue-Jay downloaded it into a small device that she could link to any camera and loop the footage into it by remote control. Tucking this into her belt, Blue-Jay headed out on patrol.

* * *

Her first stop was Gotham Library, to plant the device on the camera with the correct position and viewpoint. That was simple, and she pulled it off without a hitch, managing to avoid being seen by said camera as she planted the device on it. It took her five minuets to get in and out and on her way.

As she ran over the rooftops she became aware that she had a follower. She picked up her speed and quickly lost them. Her guess would be Batgirl. She would have spotted Robin a mile away. Nightwing would not have been shaken so easily, and she would never have spotted Batman that quickly. She smiled slightly to herself, she liked Barbara, but the girl needed to practice her shadowing skills. But, then again, so did Robin.

* * *

Blue-Jay swung through downtown Gotham, the financial district to be exact. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, when she received an alert from Pierre that the silent alarm at Gotham First National bank had been tripped. Seeing as she was in the area, Blue-Jay decided to check it out.

Five minuets after arriving at the bank, she gained some company. As she was unlocking the grating of the vent shaft, Robin came up beside her. "You were in the area, too?" She asked and he nodded.

When she got the grating open, Robin grabbed it and held it up on its hinges saying "Ladies first." With a crooked smile. She smiled back at him and crawled into the vent. Once she was in, he followed, careful not to let the grate slam when he let it down.

The vent system was relatively easy to navigate, the ducts were large enough to fit someone of Batman's bulk through, and Blue-Jay and Robin were able to crawl comfortably side by side. Both of them knew that the main vault had been the center of the breech, so it didn't take them long to find it.

Once they found the vent that looked into the vault, the two small teens crouched side by side and peered in. What they saw caused them to sit back a little and look at each other in confusion and bewilderment, because of the six people in the vault, the two recognizable ones were suppose to be in Arkham, and had been the last time any of them had checked. They were the Joker and Firefly. Talk about an unlikely partnership.

The two escaped convicts and their four cronies were busy loading money into sacks, but Blue-Jay didn't like the idea of making their entrance in plain sight, so she and Robin crawled to the one other vent in the vault. It was in the corner, partially hidden by shelves of drawers.

Blue-Jay deactivated the alarm on the grating and picked the lock with little difficulty, allowing herself and Robin to slip silently into the room, unnoticed by the other occupants.

They gauged their situation. The four that were hired muscle were just that when Blue-Jay recalled their records, recognizing them now that she saw them clearly; 'Rhino' Daily, Moe, Ler, and Cur. The last three were all wearing clown makeup and were dressed in black body suits; basically, Joker's cronies were modeled after the Three Stooges. They were all brawn and no brain.

The odds would be against them if they made a move, even with their skills, a group of men that size would most likely overwhelm them both, and neither the Joker nor Firefly were a pushover either. Their best bet would be to wait for Batman, Batgirl or Nightwing. Unfortunately, the Joker forced them to make their move before anyone else could get there.

Turning to the bound and gagged security guards he smiled and pulled out a gun. "Can't have any of you tattling on us." He said before laughing madly. The laugh made the hair on the back of Blue-Jays neck and arms stand on end and she shuddered slightly. As the mad clown aimed the gun at one of the men, both Blue-Jay and Robin moved, a batarang and a birdarang both knocked the gun from Jokers hand in the same instant.

"OW!" the clown yelled as the two birds leaped from their hiding place without hesitation. As one, they both went straight for the target closest to them: Moe. With the combined force of both of their kicks to the face, Moe was smashed into the floor, hitting his head hard and laying there, out cold.

The two small birds had to rely on their speed and on each other. Robin laced his fingers together and she landed her foot in them, jumping as he added his strength to fling her into the air "Allie-oop." He said, as she somersaulted over the heads of Ler and Cur. In true stooge fashion they both attempted to punch her in mid air as she came down between them. All they succeeded in doing was hitting each other on the head so hard that they knocked each other out.

The three stooges were down, but that still left Joker, Firefly, and Rhino. None of which would be easy. Rhino turned out to have better aim than the other three, because as Blue-Jay came in for a landing, he sized a gold bar and threw it, hitting her right in the stomach and knocking the wind out of her.

"Blue-Jay!" Robin yelled as she fell to her knees, running over to her. He knelt beside her as she clutched her stomach. "I'm fine," she wheezed, then "LOOK OUT!" she knocked Robin out of the way just in time, Firefly's 'flame-saber' missing them by less than an inch. Blue-Jay could smell burning cloth and slapped her hand down to smother the smoldering hem of her cape.

Seconds later the two threw themselves away from each other as the saber came down between them, cutting into the wall. Blue-Jay reached into her belt as she dodged the arsonist and pulled out a small capsule.

The moment he was close enough, she threw it into his face. Firefly yelled as foam covered his hands and face, putting out his saber and causing him to stumble backwards. She lunged upwards, slamming her entire body into his chest, causing him to fall backwards onto the floor where she was able to use another gadget to send an electric charge through him, knocking him out.

Turning around to face the other two, both she and Robin had to duck to avoid the stream of acid that the Joker sent their way. Blue-Jay rushed forwards, keeping low, and swept the Joker's legs out from under him sending him crashing to the floor. Unfortunately, she noticed too late that his pet hyenas had entered the vault at some point during the fight.

Blue-Jay cried out in pain as one set of teeth sank into her right forearm and the other into her right shoulder. She smashed her fist down on ones head, making him let go of her arm, and drove away the other by slashing him across the snout with a birdarang.

The Joker was in the process of getting to his feet, when a large fist sent him flying into the wall with one punch. Batman had finally gotten there. Blue-Jay was already back on her feet and running to help Robin dodge Rhino. The two birds fell back a few seconds later however, when Batman reached them, letting him take on the giant of a man.

It took Batman three minuets to bring Rhino down with a massive crash that seemed to shake the whole room. The fight had lasted only about ten minuets, but to the two birds it had seemed a lot longer, and both would have significant bruising in the morning.

Once Rhino was down Batman walked over to them, or rather, to Robin. "Are you alright?" he asked, worry slipping into his voice. The boy wonder nodded "Some bruises, and Rhino got me in the shoulder with a gold bar, but nothing life threatening." Then Robin turned to Blue-Jay and asked "But what about you? I heard you scream, what happened?" "Nothing." She replied, and there was something in her voice that Robin had never heard there before and didn't recognize. Blue-Jay pulled her injured arm out of sight under her cape and headed for the door. But Batman got there first and blocked her way.

"What happened?" he demanded. "Why should I tell you?" she asked, "Because I am not letting you go anywhere until you tell me, that's why!" he barked. Blue-Jay glowered, but decided that she just wasn't in the mood to argue with him. "The hyenas bit me, okay?" she tried to walk past him but he blocked her way again "Show me." She rolled her eyes and growled. He scowled at her and seized her left arm, causing her to yelp slightly as he pulled it forward.

His eyes widened, her sleeve and glove were soaked in blood, as was her shoulder. Tugging off her glove, he rolled up her sleeve, ignoring her protests. Her arm was bleeding freely and her shoulder was a bloody mess.

Blue-Jay tried to tug free of Batman's grip, saying "It's nothing, I'll be fine." But his grasp tightened and he growled "Wounds like these are _never _nothing, _understand!" _They glared at each other, neither of them backing down or breaking eye contact until Gordon and his men came in, distracting them both.

"Geeze, Bat's!" Bullock said when he caught sight of Blue-Jay's arm "You need to take better care of your kids!" Batman glared at him, before grabbing Blue-Jay's good arm and dragging the protesting girl out of the room, Robin bringing up the rear.

* * *

(Review, please) 


	6. Bites and Bandeges

**Chapter Five: Bites and Bandages**

(AN: Batman is not mine)

_He had been waiting for just the right moment, for months, and it would soon be here. He had been watching the guards closely, he had been listening closely. He knew their routes, he knew their shifts. He knew that Sergeant Karl Marks wife had just had twins, that would be his way out. _

_He might not have the reputation he had had before, but he still had outside connections, connections that had been working with him to arrange his 'early release'. He would soon be free._

_Marks had been warned that his wife and boys would be killed if he did not cooperate, and Bane had made sure that he knew that the threat was genuine. He had had Marks' brother shot twice in the head as he had left work late one evening. Now Marks would do whatever he was told to do. _

_The plan was that Marks would allow a supply of Venom through to Bane, a supply that would allow him to break through the wall of his cell and beat down any guards foolish enough to get in his way. _

_He would get out of the prison and there would be a car waiting for him, and then, it would not be long before revenge would be his.

* * *

_

Blue-Jay squirmed against Batmans' grip on her arm, trying to get free as he dragged her along beside him. Finally, she twisted her entire body under his arm, forcing his wrist to turn too far and his fingers to lose their grip on her. He snatched at her, but he was a fraction of a second too late, and Blue-Jay was off.

"Come back here!" Batman yelled as she ran "You catch me!" she shouted back as she pulled a grapple from her belt and fired it off. It had been a parting shot but, to her dismay, he obliged.

* * *

Blue-Jay darted over the rooftops at top speed, determined to lose her pursuer who was, in turn, equally determined not to be lost. Blue-Jay was pushing herself as hard as she could, but while she was smaller and speedier, that still did not make up for the fact that Batman had much longer legs and more power behind them. She had managed to keep away from him so far, but he was closing the gap between them too quickly for her liking. 

Pulling a smoke bomb from her belt, she threw it behind her as soon as he was within a yard of her.

Batman coughed and his eyes watered as he slid to a halt. Once he could see again, he was not surprised to find that Blue-Jay was gone. He growled to himself and changed course, backtracking to the bank to pick up Robin and the Batmobile and head for the clinic where Dr. Leslie Tompkins worked.

* * *

"Pierre!" Blue-Jay cried as she entered the roost. The man appeared a few moments later. His eyes widened at the sight of her bloody shoulder and arm. Pierre had had training as a medic in the military, so he could easily care for many of Blue-Jays injuries. 

After cleaning the bite marks, he proceeded to stitch them up and bandage them. "Thanks' Pierre." She said and he nodded, "Now, go wash up and rest." He said "You need it." She yawned, nodding as she slid off the medical table and headed for the shower.

* * *

"No broken bones, but there will be some extensive bruising." Leslie said and Batman nodded as Robin pulled the top half of his costume back on. "Anything else?" she asked and he nodded. "I need antibiotics for infections that might be transferred from a stray dog by a bite." She raised an eyebrow but nodded and gave him a phial of the antibiotic. "Thank you, Leslie." He said, she waved it off "Just take care of yourself, alright." There was no answer, when she turned back she saw why. Both Batman and Robin were gone. Leslie shook her head, muttering "Some things never change."

* * *

**The next night.**

Blue-Jay winced slightly when she moved her arm, she would have to be a little more careful with it until Pierre could remove the stitches, but at least she could still use it. Blue-Jay was ambidextrous, so the injury did not hinder her as much as it would have, thankfully, but it still made it harder to maneuver.

She had been patrolling for the better part of the night but hadn't found much, for which she was grateful. Blue-Jay would never admit it, but her first encounter with the Joker had shaken her a little. While not nearly as much as the old asylum, which was still giving her nightmares, the Joker had sent a shiver of dread through her. She had never liked clowns.

After a few hours, Blue-Jay found herself taking a short-cut through the park, heading for the dockyards, even though she knew neither of her parents were bringing in shipments that night.

She was half-way through the park when she gained some unexpected and unwanted company. Batman.

She was passing the large fountain in the center of the park, when he came out from behind it, stepping directly into her path.

Blue-Jay didn't even have the chance to turn before her good arm was firmly in his grasp. "Let go!" she snapped, squirming and twisting against his grip, but he wasn't about to fall for the same trick twice, and pulled her closer to him, eliminating the space she had to have in order to twist away.

Turning her, he forced her sit down on the wall of the fountain, making it so that she would either have to get soaked or knock him down to escape. With both of his hands now free, Batman pulled back the cloth over her injured shoulder and peeled back the gauze to see the wound. Seemingly satisfied with the stitching on her shoulder, he released her shoulder and pulled out her arm. Rolling up her sleeve, he unwound the bandaging to see the bite mark on it.

Once satisfied that her wounds had been properly seen to, he pulled several things from his belt. She didn't even look at him until her shoulder stung sharply. "Ack! What are you doing?" she yelped, turning to look at him. "Cleaning your shoulder and arm again, now sit still." He ordered. She stuck out her tongue at him and he glared at her as she looked at him innocently before turning his attention back to her shoulder.

Once her shoulder and arm were clean, he re-bandaged them before taking out a syringe gun. At the sight of it Blue-Jay began to protest, but Batman cut her off "I don't know what those hyenas have, but you already look too pale to be normal. This is an antibiotic that will kill any infections they might have given you, and you are not going anywhere until I give it to you." There was a short staring contest before Blue-Jay turned her gaze to the cloudy sky.

She twitched slightly when the needle of the gun punctured her skin but didn't say anything as he gave her the injection. "Can I leave now?" she asked once he was done. He gave her a cold stare, which she returned, unwaveringly. "I want some way to contact you, I've had enough of having to track you down in the middle of the night." Blue-Jay bristled "In other words, you want to keep tabs on me." She snapped.

Batman's eyes narrowed and he placed one hand on either side of her as he put his face within an inch of hers. Blue-Jay didn't flinch, glaring back with equal intensity. "This is my city, I will not let you run around unchecked anymore." He growled. Her temper flared "This is my city too!" She rapped back "And I have just as much right to prowl it as a solitary entity as you do!"

She managed to stand up and he did so as well, now they were almost eye to eye. The wall of the fountain was a foot tall, and Batman was over six-foot in height, Blue-Jay was less than an inch over five-foot, but standing on the fountain wall she was only about three inches shorter than he was. They were both glaring at each other, each refusing to back down in the face of the other.

If someone had walked by at that moment, they might have found the scene amusing. The tall, muscular man standing at his full height, his arms crossed over his broad chest as he glared at the little girl who was glaring right back at him, standing on the fountain wall, her small fists clenched at her sides and her petite body trembling slightly with anger. Two physical opposites locked in a staring contest that neither was going to forfit nor back down from.

The glare-a-thon would have gone on for a while longer, had two beeping noises not broken the silence. Distracted, Batman and Blue-Jay both turned from the other and pulled their communicators from their belts.

Blue-Jay smirked as Batman scowled, there was a break-in at a nearby jewelry store. Batman would handle that on his own, so she used his distraction to escape. Her boots got a little wet as she made her getaway, but she slipped through his fingers none the less.

She knew that he had slipped a tracer into the bandage on her shoulder, so as soon as she was a few blocks away from the store where she knew he would have gone, she stopped and carefully removed it from between the layers of cotton.

After fixing the tracer into the fur of a stray dog, Blue-Jay decided to call it a night and started to work her way to the city limits before going home.

* * *

(Review please) 


	7. Hitches and Stitches

**Chapter Six: Hitches and Stitches **

(AN: Batman is not mine)

_His plan had worked flawlessly so far, and now he finally had enough venom to break out of hit tiny cell. It was time._

_He smirked evilly, the blue-bird would soon pay for what she had done to him.

* * *

_

"You haven't been out much the past few days," Tim said "Is everything alright?" He and RJ were outside her aviary (the original one), and RJ was currently flying the raven she was training for Nightwing. The large bird was now fully trained and no longer needed the leash or jesses.

"No, everything's fine," RJ assured her friend "I've just been busy, that's all." It had been three days since Blue-Jay had been bitten, and she had been avoiding Batman like the plague ever since he had tried to plant a tracer on her. She had the feeling that he would not be happy once he discovered what she had done with the tracer.

The bites from the hyenas were healing well, and Pierre had told her that they could be removed in a few days. That was something she was happy to hear. Having the stitches had been a hindrance while she was being Blue-Jay and while being RJ, though it was less dangerous while she was RJ.

She had noticed that Tim was looking a little nervous about something and asked "What about you? You look kind of nervous, what's up?" He blushed a tiny bit when she said this then said "There's a _Cassidy _concert tonight, I was wondering if you wanted to go?" she turned and looked at him "Are you asking me out?" she said and he blushed a little more "I guess I am. So, do you want to go?" she smiled at him and said "Yes, I think that would be fun."

He beamed at her "You really want to go!" he asked, she smirked, replying "Of course I do, who would pass up a date with someone so cute?" he blushed a little hotter at her statement. "Alfred and I'll pick you up around eight tonight, how's that?" He asked "That'll be fine." She replied.

After a few moments, RJ whistled and the raven swooped down to her hand. After putting him back in his cage and returning the cage to its place in the aviary, she and Tim walked back up to the house.

* * *

Blue-Jay smiled to herself as she worked on one of her newer projects: a type of recorder, only this one only had to record what the voice sounded like once, and could then simulate it saying other things, it would even allow you to manipulate and change the sound of the voice. If it worked, she would have a lot of fun with it.

But that was not why she was smiling. Blue-Jay was smiling because her date with Tim tonight would provide the perfect opportunity to use the loop she had planted in the library to make it seem that Blue-Jay was in one place and RJ in another. She could have fun and throw Batman off her trail at the same time, it couldn't get sweeter than that. She only hoped that this concert went better than the last one Cassidy had had.

As Blue-Jay recalled, Garfield Lynns, A.K.A. Firefly, had turned the pyrotechnics on full-blast, destroying the stage and nearly killing Cassidy. The fiasco of the whole Firefly issue had caused Cassidy not to have any concerts for the past six months, probably due to the Pyrophobia she had come out of it with. Blue-Jay had hacked into her medical file after the event, and had not been surprised that the singer had gained a fear of fire after nearly being burned to a crisp.

RJ was also going to bring along a little 'backup' plan. RJ had always been one to be prepared, she called it caution, Pierre called it paranoia, but either way it had saved her skin a few times so far. For example: leaving the tracker on the box of bears, plan 'B' incase they had been unable to stop Ra's Al Ghul from releasing the toxin, and letting Batman give her the antibiotic.

When she had returned to the Roost the evening of that particular encounter with Batman, she had realized that she felt more tired than she should have at that time of night.

Hacking into the police database, Blue-Jay had located the files on the two Hyenas that had bitten her. After she had been bitten, Gordon had had both of them given a full examination by a veterinarian and it had turned out that they had both been carrying several bacteria that would be harmful to a human, deadly if left untreated. She guessed she should thank Batman, but she wasn't about to go looking for him.

* * *

For the concert, RJ wore a black T-shirt and black jeans with a leather belt. She also wore the red and black combat boots that Bruce had given her, and the red and black trench coat she had received from Barbara and Dick. Pulling back her hair into the usual ponytail, RJ added just a touch of lip gloss to finish the effect.

When Tim came to pick her up, they both had to stop and laugh for a few moments when they saw each others clothes: Tim was wearing a red T-shirt, black jeans with a leather belt and his coat and boots were black. "Matching outfits," she said as they both got into the car "I wonder if we have ESP." Tim laughed with her as Alfred smiled slightly in the front seat.

* * *

_Three days before…_

Batman growled slightly when she managed to slip away from him, but one look at the handheld transmitter he had in his belt told him that the tracker he had slipped into the bandage on her shoulder was working perfectly. Knowing that, he let her leave and turned his attention to the nearby robbery.

* * *

There had been two of them, armatures, from the way they had tried to pull off the job. Once he was finished hanging them from a street lamp, Batman started to follow the tracer he had placed on Blue-Jay.

It led him into the much more unsavory parts of town, parts where Blue-Jay had never gone into without Robin. A twinge of unease ran through him when he realized this, and he picked up his pace, wanting to catch up to the girl before she got into anymore trouble. Blue-Jay was a good fighter, but she was still small, injured, and possibly sick.

When he had spotted her running through the park only about an hour before, he had noticed that she had not only been paler than normal, she had also been less aware of her surroundings. If she had been fully alert, she would most likely have seen him. Actually, if she had been completely lucid, she wouldn't ever have gone through the center of the park in the first place.

Batman knew that Blue-Jay was, without doubt, the most intelligent person her age he had ever come across, but she was still human, and could make mistakes, especially when her judgment was impaired. As he was sure it was.

She should have known better than to think that she could get away from him the same way twice in a row, but she had made an error and he had caught her for that.

Batman had been slightly surprised and slightly relived to find that the bites had been properly stitched up, though it only made sense that she would have access to a doctor with all the connections she evidently had. He had had to fight back a smirk when she had stuck out her tongue at him, like Batgirl tended to do when she thought he wasn't looking, and had turned it into a glare when her innocent look made it too hard to keep a straight face.

When he had told her that he wanted some way to contact her, she had immediately gotten a little more on the hostile side then usual. But he hadn't exactly handled the situation in the greatest fashion, and he had to admit that she did have a point in her having the same right as he did to be out on the streets.

Blue-Jay was more diverse than anyone he had had to handle before. She was able to return his glare without so much as flinching, something that grown men had difficulty doing. She was secretive, she was stubborn, she was intelligent, she was independent, she was solitary and she was constantly reminding him of someone, he just couldn't think of whom.

These thoughts buzzed in his head as he neared the place where the tracer had stopped for the time being. It was in a dark, filthy, deserted alley. Batman jumped down to the ground and entered the alleyway to get a closer look.

He dropped into a fighting stance when the dumpster gave a sudden, loud rattle. But the source of the noise turned out to be a stray dog. A stray dog that had his tracer tucked into the fur behind its ear.

Normally, Batman would have been rather surprised that someone could give him the slip like that, but with Blue-Jay, he was more annoyed and frustrated than surprised. She had sent him off, following a stray dog while she got away. It was just the sort of thing that he would do. But it left him no closer to finding out who Blue-Jay really was under the mask.

* * *

"Her wounds were stitched up professionally. But she had had no antibiotics given to her." Batman was back in the batcave, thinking out loud to himself. "It sounds like she was treated by a field medic." Alfred said absently, setting Bruce's' dinner down on the nearby table.

That statement made Batman hesitate for a moment, before turning to his butler and asking "You're right, a field medic is trained to treat injuries, not infections and illnesses from bacteria, are they?" "Not when I was trained, no." Alfred replied, then he paused for a moment, thinking. A moment later he spoke again "Master Bruce, could you possibly tell me what the stitches looked like? Was there anything unusual about them?"

Batman raised an eyebrow but said "I noticed that they were a little tighter than what I normally see in hospitals, why?" "Because it sounds like Blue-Jay's medic uses the same method of stitching I use on you and the others. A method that the British military has been using for years but has only just been approved in the international community. Pulling the stitches a slight bit tighter has been proven to reduce scarring and cause the wound to heal a bit faster. It is a method that only a few of the field medics picked up on, as it is more difficult than doing it the normal way."

Batman stared at his old friend for a moment before turning to the computer and beginning to type with shocking speed. "If that's true, than it is more than likely the medic that Blue-Jay went to see was trained in Britain, but they would also have to be in Gotham for her to have reached them fast enough."

He cross-referenced a list of retired field medics from the British military with the lists of Gotham city's citizens. There were only two names that came up: Alfred Pennyworth, and Pierre Farnsworth. "Dear lord!" Alfred gasped, shocked "Pierre lives in Gotham! I wonder why he hasn't contacted me for all these years." Batman looked at him and he explained "Pierre and I were trained together, he was my best friend, but we lost touch after we both left the military. I wonder how the old boy's been doing?"

Batman looked up Pierre and his eyes narrowed "It looks like he's been doing very well," he told Alfred, turning to look at him "He butlers for the Falcon family." Alfred's eyes widened and he said, "Oh dear."

Batman turned back to the batcomputer, deep in thought. He was now almost positive that RJ Falcon was Blue-Jay, there were still a few snags in the theory, but there were too many similarities to be explained away. Either way, he would find out soon. Or so he hoped.

* * *

(Please review) 


	8. Concert, Chaos, and a Close Call

**Chapter Seven: Concert, Chaos, and a Close Call**

(AN: Batman is not mine)

_It was time. He had watched the guards all day, acting normally, until Marks' shift came up. It was almost midnight when the man came to his cell door and slid the package of venom through the slot under the door. _

_Bane picked it up and carefully pried the box open. A terrible sneer came onto his face as he carefully lifted the capsules from their snug hollows in the grey foam that had encased them._

_He slipped one capsule into the slot in his wrist guard and closed the small compartment with a soft 'click', and then he pushed the button that would send the venom pulsing through his veins like fire.

* * *

_

RJ and Tim had front row seats, the best in the house. They were accompanied by Barbara and Dick, but neither of them minded very much.

As they had entered the concert hall, RJ had 'stumbled' and placed her hand against the frame of the door, setting up her plan B. She did it so quickly and smoothly, that no one thought anything of it as she regained her balance with the help of Tim and continued her way to their seats with him.

Settling into her seat beside Tim, she smiled at him as the lights dimmed. The concert was called: White Lightning, so RJ was not surprised that, instead of fire, the effects were with electricity. It looked like Cassidy wasn't completely over her fear of fire.

The concert started with an explosion of electrical energy, flashing blue, red, green and other bright colors. Cassidy appeared in the center of it all, on a platform that rose above it all.

* * *

RJ had to say, the effects were spectacular, and Cassidy was a good singer. All in all, she was having a wonderful time, until the last song, when someone decided to crash the party. But, surprisingly, it wasn't Firefly.

It was Livewire. It appeared that the electrically charged villainess had come all the way from Metropolis just to mess with Cassidy's concert.

She made her entrance with a literal bang, blowing up one of the large glass orbs that housed dancing streaks of miniature lightning and showering the whole front row with shards of glass.

There were screams of surprise and fear as people tried to shield themselves from the flying glass. RJ and Tim both used their jackets as highly effective shields, coming out unharmed, though RJ did have some fragments of glass in her hair.

When the glass stopped flying and people looked up at the stage, they saw Livewire standing in the remains of the orb, the remnants of the glass still curving up, it's razor-sharp edges and points glinting in the stage lighting and the sparks that Livewire was giving off, making her look like she was standing on a pedestal in a lightning orb, like the one she had just destroyed. It actually looked pretty cool, if only she wasn't a dangerous criminal.

"Hey, babies," she called in her obnoxious voice, "How's about we make some sparks fly!" The hair on the back of RJ's neck stood on end, a nasty feeling forming in the pit of her stomach as Livewire lifted her hands and began to glow with electrical energy.

RJ and Tim looked at each other and said, at the same time, "Duck and cover!" Barb, Dick and quite a few other people followed their lead as they dove under their seats. And not a fraction of a second to soon, because they had just managed to get under their chairs when every light in the entire concert area exploded.

* * *

People were screaming and scrabbling for the exits as Livewire laughed with glee at their fear and pain. Many people fell and got cut on the glass that now littered the entire floor.

RJ, Tim, Dick and Barb came out from under their seats and headed for the doors nearest to them. As they made their way through the panicked crowd, RJ got herself separated from the others and headed for the ladies room.

Once inside, RJ changed into her Blue-Jay costume and ran back out into the theater just in time to see Robin get blasted off the stage area and into the seats near her.

"Not having much luck?" Blue-Jay asked, helping him up. Robin shook his head, causing glass shards to fall out of his hair and onto the floor, "None, she's pure electricity! Nothing we have with us can stop her!" he looked at her, "Any ideas?" Blue-Jay smirked in reply, saying, "If we don't have anything with us, we'll have to improvise." She looked past Robin and he turned, to see the emergency fire hose mounted on the wall. A smirk identical to Blue-Jays was on his face a second later.

* * *

Nightwing and Batgirl were having a very hard time against Livewire. Batgirl had fought her before, but the things that could stop her were not within her reach, and Livewire knew better than to let them get away from her. She forced them to stay within her range, and made them constantly dodge her attacks, wearing them down, they soon wouldn't be able to dodge her attacks.

Nightwing had just done a back flip in order to avoid getting fried, when he landed on several large shards of broken glass. While the glass was unable to cut through his shoe, it caused him to slip and fall. Normally, he would have easily caught himself, but Livewire had sent another bolt of lightning his way and the only way to avoid it was to let himself fall. Unfortunately, he didn't realize just how close he was to a row of seating until his head made contact with the metal armrest of a chair.

The force of the blow left Nightwing stunned, blood flowing quickly from a wound on the side of his head, and leaving him vulnerable to Livewire's attacks. "Ha, ha, got'cha now!" she yelled, triumphantly, gathering an orb of electrical energy in the hand that was not shooting lightning at Batgirl.

* * *

Livewire raised her hand and threw the orb at Nightwing. If she had thrown it a second earlier, she would have undoubtedly killed him, but at the exact moment she threw it, Batman arrived.

He only just managed to snatch Nightwing out of danger and pulled him behind a row of seats farther from her as the chairs where Nightwing had just been exploded when the orb hit them.

"Well, well, well!" Livewire said, "What have we here? Ooh, it looks like daddy's come to save his brats." She sneered at Batman, "Well, I guess that means that now I get to kill _all _of you in one go! HA!"

Livewire sent a bolt of lightning at Batman, who dodged it and pulled out a batarang. He threw it at her but he shouldn't have bothered, the projectile never reached her, the energy coming off of her shielding her from it.

Batman grimaced as he dodged the lightning, thinking hard, _'She has been going at this for too long, she should have run out of energy by now!' _And then he realized: Livewire was still standing in the remains of the lightning orb, which was still on, and it was charging her as she used energy. They had to get her off the orb, or they wouldn't get anywhere.

As he dodged the next blast, Batman's mind worked furiously to come up with a way of getting her off her energy source. But he was distracted by a voice coming from the main entrance, a young woman calling, "TIM! Where are you?" Looking around, he felt shock course through him and his eyes went wide. Because, the girl standing in the doorway was RJ Falcon and, as he watched, Blue-Jay rushed over to her and pushed her back out the doors.

* * *

As Robin was distracted by getting the fire-hose down, Blue-Jay quickly took a small controller out of her belt. It had a screen and actually looked rather like a blackberry. Scrolling quickly through the options, she selected one and activated her 'back up plan'.

The object that she had placed on the door frame before the concert sparked to life and projected a three-d image of RJ Falcon into the doorway. It was a hologram, and while it was not as refined as Blue-Jay hoped to make it, it would do for this instance, as no one would have time to look at details, such as the fact that the fake RJ's hair was more white than platinum blond. Blue-Jay hoped any small differences like that would be passed off as effects of the lighting. The hologram, combined with the recorder Blue-Jay had made, allowed her to make the fake RJ look around frantically and yell, "TIM! Where are you!"

Blue-Jay had to suppress a slight smile as she ran to 'RJ' and pretended to push her back outside. The look of shock on Batman's face was something that she would never forget.

After snatching the imager and the recorder from the doorframe, Blue-jay hurried back to Robin, tucking the objects into her belt as she did so.

She reached Robin just as Livewire raised her hands, both charged with electrical energy, and prepared to strike the frozen Batman. Robin aimed the hose and Blue-Jay used her whole weight to turn the wheel all the way around.

Water shot across the auditorium with such force, that Robin had to struggle to keep a hold on the hose until Blue-Jay was able to come and take hold of it with him.

* * *

The stream of water hit Livewire with brutal force and she screamed as she was blasted off of the remains of the lightning orb and into the wall behind her. Her body convulsed in the water, sending bolts of lightning out in random directions as she was 'electrocuted' by her own energy. After a few moments, Blue-Jay let go of the hose and turned off the water.

Livewire slid to the floor, out cold.

The two small teens abandoned the fire hose and headed down towards the other three. Batgirl was breathing hard, her hands on her knees, but she was uninjured. Blue-Jay ignored Batman for the time being and hurried over to Nightwing.

* * *

The Arial Avenger groaned and tried to sit up as she reached him. She helped the still slightly dazed young man into one of the undamaged seats and pulled out her flashlight.

The wound wasn't deep, but it was a heavy bleeder and needed stitches, _now. _Blue-Jay handed Robin her flashlight as he, Batman and Batgirl came over, and took several things from her belt.

After the incident with the hyenas, Blue-Jay had had Pierre begin to teach her the basics in emergency medical treatment, such as stitches. Nightwing winced as she cleaned the wound with the same type of disinfectant that Batman had used on her shoulder, but she knew that this was going to hurt a lot more before it was over.

She looked at him apologetically as she threaded the needle. "Sorry, but this is going to hurt." She said. Nightwing grimaced and said, "Just do it and get it over with." She nodded and leaned in.

Nightwing clenched his teeth as she worked and she felt the corner of her mouth quirk up slightly at his refusal to cry-out in front of them.

She was careful, and did it quickly and efficiently. Nightwing winced every time the needle pierced his skin but forced himself to remain still, so as to let her get it done without distraction.

Finally, she used a small knife to cut the thread and cleaned the side of his face gently before wrapping the wound with gauze.

* * *

Once she had finished patching him up, she sat back and pulled her gloves back on, having removed them to make it easier to stitch him up.

Nightwing sat up a little straighter, "Thanks." He said, softly, Blue-Jay smiled slightly at him, "Don't mention it. Just because you're not fond of me doesn't mean I won't do my best to watch your back." He looked at her as she balanced on the armrest of the chair and back-flipped over the other three.

When she landed, Robin turned to face her and asked, "What happened to RJ, I heard her call me?" "I told her to go home, that you would stop by to check on her. So it looks like you have somewhere to be." Robin's eyes went wide and he bolted for a side door.

Batman, Nightwing and Batgirl watched him go, before turning back to Blue-Jay, only to find that she was gone.

* * *

(Please review) 


	9. Escape

**Chapter Eight: Escape**

(AN: Batman is not mine)

_The walls of his prison had crumbled like tissue paper under his fists. He had laughed as the guards ran around him like terrified insects. For that is what they were, he reminded them, as he broke the necks of several that were dumb enough to get in his way. Yes, he would remind them all that they were nothing compared to him, that he was a god among them, and no one could stand against him.

* * *

_

Blue-Jay headed for home at top speed, running for the first few blocks before picking up her cycle by remote control and going into the Roost via a secret tunnel that went under Gotham cemetery, its entrance hidden by a large section of concrete that would lift up to admit her when she gave the command.

* * *

As soon as she got back to the Roost, Blue-Jay changed back into the outfit she had been wearing and went upstairs to wait for Tim. 

He arrived within minutes and she came over and hugged him. "Are you alright?" She asked, softly, as he returned her hug. "Yes, I'm fine." He told her, "But what about you? Someone told me that you went home after you got out?" She smiled sheepishly at him, saying, "I actually went back into the theater when I couldn't find you, Dick or Barb. Needless to say you weren't in there, there were only Batman and the others. Blue-Jay told me to go home, that you would come by and check on me as soon as you could."

Tim smiled and said, "Well, I'm glad she told you to go home, here no one can hurt you. She told me where you had gone after Livewire had been taken care of. We were all worried when you got separated from us."

There were a few moments of silence, where the two just stood there, holding one another. Then RJ gave a soft giggle, and said, "That was quite and interesting first date, though, wasn't it?" he smiled at her, "No kidding, now that we've been faced with a major villain, how am I suppose to take you anywhere more exciting on our next one?" She grinned, "I'm sure that just dating you will be exciting enough, Mr. Drake." She pressed her forehead to his for a moment before kissing him softly on the lips.

* * *

Tim returned to the Batcave to find Batman pacing around in front of the batcomputer, where Batgirl was sitting, typing quickly. 

"I was so sure it was her!" Batman said, punching his fist into his other hand, "Everything fit, she was the perfect match!" "Not to mention our only suspect." Batgirl said, dryly.

"What's up?" Tim asked, wondering what his mentor and friend were so put off about. "Batman was sure that RJ was Blue-Jay," Batgirl told him, when it became apparent that Batman wasn't going to say anything. "But tonight, as you are well aware of, that possibility was eliminated."

Tim frowned, "And you didn't tell me about this until now, because…?" "Despite what you told us before," Batman finally said, looking Tim's way as he paced, "You and RJ are not just friends." Tim felt a slight blush begin to creep up his cheeks and he tried to fight it back.

"Okay, I admit it," Tim said, "I like RJ, a lot, what does that have to do with the possibility of her being Blue-Jay?" Batman stopped his pacing and looked straight at the teen, who shifted slightly under his gaze, but didn't look away. "Because you would have gotten suspicious of her, and that in itself would have put a strain on your friendship."

This made sense, and after a moment Tim nodded slightly. He then moved to go past Batman, towards the stairs that led up to the house, but Batman put out an arm and stopped him. "Wait, there is something else we have to talk about." Tim looked at his mentor, "Like what? You aren't going to give me the infamous 'Talk' are you?" Tim smirked inwardly when he saw Batman twitch slightly, a small tinge of red appearing in the mans' cheeks.

Tim had always enjoyed doing this, putting his surrogate father on the spot or making him feel awkward. He would sometimes ask Bruce what a word meant, even though he already knew the definition of said word, just to see the man turn slightly pink and try and find a way to explain without actually saying the meaning straight out.

Batman glared at the 'innocent' looking teen and said, "No, I was just going to say-" But he never got the chance to finish his sentence, because at that moment, an alarm went off on the computer.

Batman and Tim ran over to Batgirl, who was typing furiously on the keyboard. "What is it?" Batman asked her. "The penitentiary, there's been a break-out." She told him. "How many escapees?" Tim questioned. "Just one and-oh no." Batgirl fell silent and her face paled a bit. "What, who is it?" Batman asked, and she turned to look at him before she said, "It's Bane."

* * *

RJ stepped out of the shower and toweled herself off before pulling on the large T-shirt that she wore to bed at night. 

As she entered her room she turned on the TV, and froze when she saw what was on live television.

One wall of the penitentiary had a giant hole in it the size of a bull elephant, and the chunks of concrete were scattered up to as far away from their point of origin as 15 yards. She didn't need to hear what the announcer was saying to know who had broken out, because only one person could do that kind of damage with their bare hands. Bane.

* * *

RJ hurried down to the Roost and quickly changed into her costume before heading for her bike. She was only about ten feet away when she stopped. She stared at the bike for a few seconds before turning away from it and heading to the part of the Roost where the zip-lines would lead her to the batcave. 

As much as she wanted to handle Bane on her own, she knew that to try would be stupid and fool-hardy, not to mention deadly. Blue-Jay had no doubt that Bane had broken out to kill her. She had kept track of him and she had found that being defeated by a fifteen year old girl had a tendency to destroy a grown man's reputation, especially one such as Bane's.

* * *

The moment after Batgirl had said that name, Tim was already half-way across the cave, and pulled on his costume a moment later. As he did this, Batman looked at Batgirl, saying "You stay here and keep in tough with us. If you find out _anything _about where Bane is or is going, tell us immediately." She nodded as he stood up straight. 

"What are you going to do?" Batgirl asked, wondering how Batman intended on taking down Bane. The answer she got was not exactly what she had expected. "We don't know where Bane is now, if we did I would confront him, but as we don't there is something else that has to be done. We have to find Blue-Jay."

Batman and Robin started to head for the batmobile, when a soft voice made them stop and look around. "I'm right here." Blue-Jay came out of the shadows at the far end of the cave and walked towards them.

* * *

She had come out of the shadows when she had heard Batman say "We have to find Blue-Jay." "I'm right here." She had said, as she walked towards him and Robin.

* * *

Blue-Jay stopped a few feet from them and looked up at Batman. There seemed to be an invisible exchange between them and after a few moments of silence, Batman said "I want you to stay here for tonight." Blue-Jay bristled slightly but, surprisingly, didn't protest. 

Blue-Jay was never one to take orders, not even from Batman, but she was far from stupid, and would follow an order if she had to. It was a mark of just how scared she really was that she walked over to the batcomputer and stood beside Batgirl as Batman and Robin got into the batmobile.

* * *

(Review, please) 


	10. Girl Talk and Hunting

**Chapter Nine: Girl Talk and Hunting**

(AN: Batman is not mine)

Blue-Jay sat silently on the consol near Batgirl for a while, before Batgirl decided that, since Blue-Jay wasn't likely to start a conversation, she might as well try.

"So, where did you learn how to fight so well?" Blue-Jay looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "Okay then, let's try another topic, shall we?" Batgirl said, realizing that her question wasn't one Blue-Jay was going to answer. "How did you get in here?" "I snuck in." Batgirl rolled her eyes but didn't push it.

Finally, Batgirl asked the question that had been bugging her for a while now. "Why are you always arguing with Batman every time you two meet?" Blue-Jay frowned at her, but it wasn't because she didn't like the question, it was because she was thinking of what to say.

After a few moments, Blue-Jay finally spoke. "I guess you could say that I don't like being bossed around or treated like a kid sometimes. Batman knows I'm a competent fighter, but he continually tries to keep tabs on me. I mean" she jumped down from the consol "if I was his sidekick, then I would understand him wanting to keep track of me, but I'm _not _his sidekick, despite what the rest of Gotham might think."

Batgirl gave the girl a small smile "I know where you're coming from, he knew my identity long before I knew his, my guess is that he doesn't like the feeling of not being in control. This is, after all, _his city." _"Yes, it is his city, and mine and yours and Nightwing's and Robins. He doesn't own it!" "Try telling him that." "Like I would bother." The two girls shared a small smile, and Batgirl couldn't help but begin to like the younger girl.

* * *

Batman and Robin both kept a sharp look out as they drove around Gotham, but they found nothing, and Batgirl couldn't find anything that was of any help either. Bane's trail had gone completely cold.

"What do we do now?" Robin asked, after several hours of searching had turned up nothing. Batman was quiet for a few moments, before saying "As much as she will dislike the idea, Blue-Jay will have to stay around us, she can't go out on her own anymore. It's too risky, Bane knows she normally works alone or just with you, and if he were to catch her that would be the end."

Robin stared at him for a few moments before saying "Blue-Jay is not going to take that well, or without a fight." Batman nodded shortly, having the feeling that the boy was more right than they were expecting.

* * *

"NO!" Blue-Jay snarled at Batman. He and Robin had returned to the cave near dawn, having not found the slightest trace of Bane. She was not very happy about that, but when Batman had basically told her that she either went out with him and Robin or she didn't go out at all, she had not been pleased.

Robin and Batgirl watched the two from the sidelines as they both glared at each other, almost as if each were trying to stare the other out of existence or burn them to a crisp somehow.

Batman glowered at her "You don't have a choice! He'll kill you if he catches you alone!" "I won't let him catch me!" "He might not do it himself!" Batman roared "He knows you would spot him a mile away! He'll likely send someone else to catch you for him!" "Like that would help him get his reputation back!"

It was like watching a tennis match, the two players shooting back and forth at each other, and the spectators looking from one to the other and back again as the figurative 'ball' was slammed from one half of the court to the other.

"I will not be dragged around on a leash!" the girl hissed at the man, the venom in her voice rather startling, but Batman didn't flinch "I'm not trying to put a choke collar around your neck, for god's sake! Once we catch Bane, then you can go out on your own again, but until then you _will _be working with us, understand!" Blue-Jay opened her mouth to shoot something back, when Robin, who now had a crick in his neck from turning it so much, broke in. "Blue-Jay, please." She turned to look at him, "I know you don't like the idea of not having as much freedom as you are use to, but it won't be forever, just until we catch Bane. It might be a while, but limited freedom is better than being killed."

Robin looked at Blue-Jay and cocked his head, taking advantage of the soft spot he knew she had for him. It worked. Blue-Jay sighed and said "Fine, but only until we catch Bane."

Batgirl looked at the younger girl, amazed. She gone from pleasant, while she and Batgirl had been talking, to hostile and venomous while arguing with Batman, and then to calmer and more passive when Robin had made his request. It was like she could turn her temper on and off whenever she wanted to.

* * *

RJ flopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling, exhausted but unable to sleep. This was not how she had wanted it to go. She had wanted Batman and Robin to go out, catch Bane right away and then have everything go back to 'normal'.

But it seemed that Bane had calculated his plan more than the average criminal would, but that made sense, as he wasn't quite average.

RJ suddenly remembered one night, about three months ago now, when she and Robin were patrolling the outskirts of the east side of Gotham.

**Flashback**

_"Hey, BJ?" Robin asked, he was the only one who was allowed to call her BJ, he had picked it out not long after they had started patrolling together. She looked at her friend "Yes?" "Can I ask you something?" "You just did, but sure." he smiled slightly before speaking again. "How is it you were able to beat Bane? I know you are a great fighter, but still, it's hard for Batman to fight him!" She paused for a moment, thinking about her answer, before speaking again. "Luck, Robin, luck, that was all that allowed me to defeat Bane. He underestimated me once and it cost him everything, he will not do so again."_

**End Flashback**

It was true, it had been sheer luck that Bane had underestimated her, if he had not, he would have killed her with ease. RJ sighed, and closed her eyes.

She began to breathe deeply, clearing her mind of all thought before allowing herself to drift off to sleep. She had been meditating before bed almost every night since that night in the old asylum, it was the only thing that could help keep the nightmares away.

The memory of that night had been eating at her for a long time, and RJ knew that Blue-Jay would have to go back to that hell hole and face that nightmare once and for all. She somehow knew that, if she didn't, she would eventually go mad.

She wondered how Batman put up with it, with everything he saw and went through. He couldn't just box it all away inside, that would drive him insane overnight. But fighting on the streets would get rid of most of it, she supposed, just not all of it. What did he do with the rest? Maybe she would ask him one night, as they would be working together.

RJ smirked at that last thought. _'Ask him? Yah, right!' _that was her last thought before everything left her mind, and she fell asleep.

* * *

(Review please)

(AN: Sorry it took me a little while to update, but I had finals. Finals are EVIL! But now there over, thank the lord, and I will be able to write, hopefully, without interruption. Thank you for being patient with me.)


	11. Two Birds and a Bat

**Chapter Ten: Two Birds and a Bat**

Blue-Jay smiled as she swung through the air on her grapple-line, coming in for a landing on the roof of the Iceberg Lounge. Moments later, Robin landed beside her, and then Batman dropped down behind the two of them.

It was way after the Lounges' closing hours, and the three of them where there to investigate Penguin. Oswald Cobblepot may have put on the guise of a legitimate business man, but Blue-Jay, Robin and Batman were far from fooled, they knew for a fact that he was the fence for most of Gotham's' big-time crooks. Most people knew that Penguin was still in the racquets, but the difficulty was proving it.

Batman reached out and gripped Blue-Jay and Robin's capes, stopping them as they tried to go forwards. They turned to look at him and he pulled them back a little, going ahead of them, towards the skylight in the center of the roof.

Blue-Jay glared at his back for a moment before turning to Robin "Is he always like that?" Robin nodded "And he can be a lot worse, trust me." "Oh, I do." She whispered back as the two of them came up beside Batman.

Settling into crouching positions on either side of Batman, the two teens looked in. Sure enough, Penguin was there, along with Two-Face and Killer Croc, both of which were collecting their cash for the stolen goods they had given to the Penguin for him to sell.

Blue-Jay had to stifle a giggle and Batman and Robin looked at her, she smirked as she said "That diamond that Croc just got about fifty grand for is worth about twice that much." Robin snickered and Batman raised an eyebrow at her. "And you would know that, how?" She rolled her eyes at him "Look at the size of it, you don't see a gem that size on a ring, Batboy." He glared at her, but had to admit she was right, the stone was big enough to fit into both of Blue-Jay's small hands, and neatly into his palm.

They could see Croc grumbling about being cheated, but the other two ignored him as Two-Face collected his takings for his contraband. It seemed that Harvey had gotten a better price than Croc had, because the reptile glowered at them man as he stood and left.

Blue-Jay knew that it was probably a good idea to let Batman call the shots on this one, as Harvey Dent had been one of Bruce Wayne's best friends before the accident, and he would know how best to deal with him.

Batman pulled out a small camera from his belt and began to take pictures of the three of them walking towards the doors together. Following his lead, Blue-Jay used her glove cam to take pictures as well.

"I'm guessing that we'll be handing these over to the cops?" Blue-Jay said, as they left the roof, Batman didn't answer and Blue-Jay bristled. Seeing a fight on the horizon, Robin quickly intervened "Probably, but what about that shipment you told me about?"

This seemed to catch Batman's attention and he looked back at the two. Blue-Jay checked her watch "It should be coming in sometime around midnight, so that gives us about an hour to scout the place before the games begin." "And what shipment are you talking about?"

The two looked over at Batman, seemingly having forgotten that he was with them. "It's a shipment of drugs that are being brought into Gotham tonight by freighter. Robin and I have been planning to ambush it for the past few days." Batman's eyes narrowed "And why was I not informed?" The two birds looked at each other, then looked back at Batman "We were gonna' take care of it." Robin said.

Batman glowered at the two of them, before saying "Well you're bit going to, we'll let the police handle this one." "What!" Blue-Jay hissed, and Robin could just see her feathers becoming ruffled "That's our gig, you can't just tell us we can't go!" "Oh, yes I can, I'm in charge here, in case you have forgotten." "You are not in charge of me!" "Yes I am, while you are with us you are my responsibility and you will do as I say!" "Make me!"

Things were about to get very ugly as the two glared at each other, only for Robin to break in once again, averting the impending storm. "You know, BJ, maybe we _should _leave it to the cops. I mean," he continued quickly as she turned to look at him "We're use to boats and the occasional air plane, we've never done a train before." After a moment of tense silence, Blue-Jay grumbled, saying "Fine then, let the police take it."

Blue-Jay stormed past Batman, over to where the Batmobile was parked. Batman followed her. Robin sighed, no matter how long it took them to catch Bane, if tonight was going to be any indication, it was going to seem a lot longer.

* * *

Blue-Jay and Robin swung through the air, side by side, both doing a summersault before coming in for a landing on the roof of Wayne Tower, Batman sweeping in behind them a moment later.

For a few minuets, three pairs of keen eyes swept the city below them, looking for any signs of disturbance. That search was interrupted, however, by the Bat-signal coming on.

The three of them moved at the same time, shooting of grapples and swinging off the roof, towards the police headquarters.

* * *

"Commissioner?" Batman said, as the three of them swung in for a landing, the two birds pulling their signature summersault through the air before moving into the light that the searchlight gave off.

The commissioner came forwards and said "The Joker has escaped from Arkham." Robin felt Blue-Jay shudder slightly beside him and moved a little closer, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye and he gave her a reassuring smile.

During their previous run in with the clown prince of crime, Robin had seen that Blue-Jay had been effected more than she let on. It was understandable, the Joker had set him on edge the first time he had come face to face with him as well, and he knew that all the girl needed was a little reassurance when it came to the clown.

She returned his smile with a slight on of her own before they bother turned their attention to what the commissioner was saying.

"He left this note, it was on the body of the security guard that he used his Joker toxin on." As the commissioner handed the not to Batman, Blue-Jay frowned and asked "How did he get Joker toxin smuggled into Arkham, I thought all of the incoming and outgoing mail for the facility was screened?" Gordon looked at her "It is, we think it was an inside job." The girl nodded before moving over to Batman and standing on tip-toe to see what was written on the note.

_Dear Batman, _

_I wanted to invite you to a party that I am throwing tonight. It's formal, so I insist that you and your brats **wash up **before you come._

_Love,_

_Joker. _

Blue-Jay thought for a moment, her mind puzzling the emphasis on the words _wash up_. And then she had it. "The abandoned 'Happy Suds' soap factory!" Batman looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Come on." he said, turning to the edge of the roof. Moments later, the three of them were swinging through the air once more.

* * *

(Please review) 


	12. Soap Suds, Cleaning up and a Mistake

**Chapter Eleven: Soap Suds, Cleaning up and a Mistake**

(Batman is not mine)

The batmobile pulled into an alleyway about a block from the old factory, and the three crime fighters got out. After climbing a fire escape to the roof, they crept across the rooftops until they reached their destination.

The _Happy Suds Soap Factory _had gone out of business almost seven years ago, when Robin and Blue-Jay had both been eight, but Blue-Jay remembered it well. The factory had been the victim of one of the Jokers first citywide _Pranks. _Anyone who had used _Happy Suds Soap, _whether it was bar soap, liquid, shampoo or dish, got a nasty, itchy, purple or green rash.

Batman had caught the clown and had found the antidote, but after that, so few people would use or buy their products that _Happy Suds _was forced out of business not long after the ordeal had passed.

Blue-Jay had never liked clowns, and just looking at the factory gave her the creeps. The brick building was painted white with clowns doing tricks all over the walls, and on the roof of the factory, sat a large clown face that would once have been lit up with neon lighting.

Whoever had designed the clowns, especially the one on the roof, must have had some sort of weird, twisted second-sight, because the faces of the clowns bore an uncanny resemblance to the clown prince of crime. While the one's on the walls did not all have the same green hair or pointy features, the one on the roof most certainly did, only the flowery top hat that the sign wore and the lack of the black shading around the eyes differed it from the clown they all knew and loathed.

While the sign would once have been burning brightly, it was now dark, some of its bulbs broken and a birds nest or two tucked away in its corners and the brim of its hat. The walls had also seen better days, once clean and pristine, they were now flaking and fading, large quantities of spray-paint covering whole expanses of the buildings with words, symbols and designs that would get you a slap across the face and two weeks of no TV and no dessert if you repeated them to your mother.

Blue-Jay felt Robin shudder beside her as he asked, looking up at the sign, "Who painted this place? It's giving me the creeps just looking at it!" "A man named Edmund Waller." Blue-Jay told him "He painted it over twenty years ago, he died about eight years back." She looked around to find them staring at her "What?" Robin cocked his head, saying "How do you know this stuff?" Blue-Jay gave him a small smile, replying "I make it my business to know everything I can about the creepy buildings in Gotham." Robin smirked back at her and they returned their attention to the skylight closest to them.

The inside of the factory looked just as creepy, if not more so than the outside. All the machines and vats were painted to resemble clowns that were just as deterring as the ones on the outside. No wonder the Joker was the first one to break into the place, he must have been the only one who could go inside during the night and stay for more than five minutes without having the urge to run back out again.

They couldn't see anything moving, so Blue-jay got up and left the skylight, Robin following her and Batman, scowling, bringing up the rear.

Once at the edge of the roof, Blue-Jay gripped the eaves with her small fingers and lowered herself so that she was looking through on of the windows in the side of the building. Squinting, it was a moment before she saw them.

The Joker, Harley and the three 'Stooges' as Blue-Jay and Robin had started calling them, were working around the vats in the center of the room, but what they were doing, Blue-Jay couldn't tell.

Pulling herself back up, she turned to face the other two. "They're in there alright, around the vats in the center of the room, but I can't see what they're working on."

Batman nodded curtly and they returned to the skylight. Blue-Jay got there first and quickly picked the lock, but before she could go in, Batman took them both by the scruff of the neck and held them back. "I go in first, then you two follow, and _do not _run after any of them if they try to lead you away from where everyone else is, got it?" both Batman and Robin were surprised when Blue-Jay frowned but did not argue and sat back a bit. Batman looked at Robin and the boy wonder said, softly, "She doesn't like the Joker." "Are we going or not!" Blue-Jay asked, sounding a bit irritated.

Batman ignored the girls tone and jumped. He was closely followed by the two teens and they landed behind him, one to either side.

The Joker turned to face them "Oh, good!" he said "You made it, I was beginning to worry you didn't know the way." He laughed and Blue-Jay forced back a shudder.

Suddenly, Joker frowned and looked closely at Blue-Jay and Robin. After a moment, he Tsk'd and shook his head, saying "My, my, those two are all sweaty, you really should take better care of your spawn, Batsy, they'll get sick if you don't shape up!" Blue-Jay tensed slightly, sensing a double meaning in his words.

"Oh come on, Puddn'," Harley said, her high and overly preppy voice immediately grating on Blue-Jays' nerves. "You can't really expect someone who dresses like that to be a good father, I mean" she looked Batman over "What kind of father dresses like him?" "What are you doing here, Joker?" Batman asked, finally seeming to have had enough of the clowns talk. Truthfully, Blue-Jay wondered why he had let them talk for so long in the first place, then she realized that doing so had allowed the three vigilantes to take in their surroundings.

"Oh, just finishing up some unfinished business." Joker said, smiling "You ruined my first attempt to help Gotham 'clean up' so now I thought I would try again." The smile left his face "But this time you won't get in my way."

A soft noise behind them caused Blue-Jay to drop to her knees at the same moment that Batman grabbed both her and Robin and threw himself to the floor. The grenade missed them by inches and they all slapped on gasmasks as the Jokers patented laughing gas filled the room.

Blue-Jay tried to look around, but the fumes were so thick that she couldn't see more than an inch in front of her face. Reaching into her belt, she pulled out a pair of what looked like sunglasses, with red tinted lenses.

Slipping them on, Blue-Jay pushed a small button on the outside rim of the left lens. The lenses began to glow red a little bit and made everything she could see take on a slightly rosy tint, but she could see through the gas now with surprising clarity.

And it was a good thing, too, because had the glasses not worked, she would not have seen the mallet that was about to hit her in the head and would never have gotten out of the way in time.

She rolled away from Harley, who's mallet missed her head by less than an inch, hitting the concrete floor with a loud 'crack' that reverberated through out the room.

Blue-Jay's roll had gotten her away from Harley, but, at the same time, she was now pushed up against Batman, who still could not see through the smog. He reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her around to his other side as he stood, causing Harley's mallet to hit the ground a second time, and this time, Batman stepped on it with one foot, and delivered a vicious kick to the clown girls' stomach with the other.

By now the smog had begun to clear, and Blue-Jay and Robin both fell into fighting stance as the Stooges came their way.

Blue-Jay would have thought that not having the element of surprise would have meant that it would be harder to defeat the three large men, but she soon discovered that not only was she wrong, but being rather small had more advantages then she had thought. She and Robin were too small and too fast for the three to get their hands on.

Robin and Blue-Jay quickly downed Moe, and moments later they were both on the shoulders of the other two, beating their fists into the men's skulls. Cur fell when Blue-Jay was finally able to dig her nails into her favorite pressure point, and Ler quickly followed when two sets of small fists collided with his head.

Once that was done, they both realized that Batman and the Joker had moved their fight to the catwalk above the vats. After looking at each other for a second, they both ran forwards, only for their path to be blocked by Harley, who had apparently gotten her breath back after getting kicked by Batman. "Oh, no you two don't!" she said, sneering at them "You aren't going to mess up Puddn's plan, nu-uh, no way!" Blue-Jay cocked an eyebrow "What plan, all he said was he was 'finishing up some unfinished business', that doesn't really have any real meaning to anyone but himself." Harley snorted "That's just because you ain't smart enough to figure out Mista' J's plan!" "If he even has one."

Harley bristled at Blue-Jay's comment, saying "Of course Puddn's got a plan, he always does!" "Sure he does." "HE DOES!" "How would you know?" "He told me!" "Prove it." Robin had to fight back a smirk when Blue-Jay said this, and had to fight even harder when it worked.

"The soap in the vats over there," Harley motioned to the containers that the stooges' had been working at earlier "Are filled with soap that Puddn's gonna send out into Gotham. When people use it, it'll make'em laugh so hard they can't breath!" Harley smiled widely when she finished speaking, only to realize that, not only had she just given away her 'puddn's' plan, but that both of the small birds were smiling wickedly, having cuffed her hands to a pipe without her noticing.

Ignoring Harley's yells, the two climbed up to the catwalk and ran towards Batman and the Joker.

The clown didn't even see them coming. One moment he was pointing a gun at Batmans' head, the next, something hit him in the side with such force that it sent him over the edge. He landed in a large vat of ancient baby shampoo. Looking up, he saw Blue-Jay perched on the rail and Robin standing beside her, both laughing, hard.

* * *

When he had gone over the edge, Batman had lunged up and reached out just in time to catch Blue-Jay and haul her back onto the catwalk. Looking over the edge, he was relieved that the clown's fall had ended in a vat of shampoo, rather then on the concrete floor twenty feet below them. 

Blue-Jay and Robin both took one look at the Joker as he surfaced, then burst out laughing. Batman had to admit, it was rather hilarious and he might have cracked a slight smirk, had he not been angry.

Blue-Jay's giggles were cut off when Batman seized her arm and shot off a grapple to the skylight above them, pulling them up to it and onto the roof of the building. Once there, he twisted her around to face him. He bent down and put his face right up to her confused one and growled "What did you think you were doing?"

Instantly, the girls face went stony and she glared back at him. "Saving your neck, that's what." "I had no need of you." He said, his voice deathly cold, "Well you could have fooled me!" she hissed back, trying to pull her arm out of his grasp. In response, he grabbed the other one and made her stay in place. "You could have killed him!" he growled. The look on Blue-Jays face changed.

The stony, stubborn look that her features had held gave way to a rather alarming amount of anger, her eyes narrowed dangerously into white slits, and when she spoke, her voice had lost any and all trace of the laughter that had permeated it only moments before. The coldness in it sent a shiver down Robin's spine.

"How _dare _you!" she hissed at him "How _dare _you accuse me of being foolish enough to make a mistake like that." She tore away from him with a surprising amount of strength, taking several steps back. "Do you honestly think that I would have let him go over the edge if I wasn't sure that the vat had been under him! Do you really think that I would kill someone like that? Well, if you do, than you have more wrong with you than I could have imagined! Which is saying quite a lot!"

He continued to stare at her, though he now looked more surprised than angry. "I have risked my life for this city, and I have proved that I have made it my goal to stop crime, just as you have. Who gave you the authority to judge me, WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO ACCUSE ME OF ATTEMPTED MURDER WHEN ALL I DID WAS HELP SAVE YOUR LIFE?"

He was staring at her, now looking rather alarmed. Blue-Jay was trembling with fury as she glared at him. Suddenly, she realized that tears had begun to trail down her cheeks. Brushing them away angrily, Blue-Jay turned and walked away, Robin quickly followed her as she jumped off the roof, leaving Batman alone and with the distinct feeling that he had just made his second serious mistake concerning the Bluebird.

* * *

(Review please.) 

(AN: Sorry for the delay, things have been rather hectic lately.)

(AN: And next time, Batman has to figure out how to smooth things over with BJ before things get worse.)


	13. Revelations, Realizations, and an Unlike

**Chapter Twelve: Revelations, Realizations, and an Unlikely Apology **

(Batman is not mine)

Blue-Jay swung through the air, letting the cool wind sooth away her anger. Unfortunately, that meant that her other emotions reared their ugly heads.

She and Robin stopped on the roof of Wayne Tower after about fifteen minutes of swinging around. Neither said anything as they just looked out over the city that they both called home.

After a few moments, Robin spoke "He didn't mean that you were _trying _to kill the Joker, he just thought you knocked him off the catwalk without thinking." Blue-Jay sighed "I know, but still, he made it sound like I was worthless." "But you're not!" Robin gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"He doesn't mean to be such a jerk, but that's just how he is!" Blue-Jay smiled a little, "So I noticed." Robin smiled slightly in return, then spoke again "And he doesn't think you're worthless, no one does. If he had thought you were worthless, than he would never have insisted that you start patrolling with us." Blue-Jay nodded and looked out over the city for a few moments before she turned back to Robin. He was still looking at her, his head cocked slightly.

Blue-Jay suddenly found herself leaning into him, and moments later, their lips met.

He tensed for a moment, then relaxed slightly, wrapping his arms around her.

After they pulled apart, he pressed his forehead against hers and said "So, how did you manage to be in two places at once?"

* * *

Batman looked through his binoculars at the two teens. Blue-Jay seemed to have calmed down for the most part, and he was about to join them on top of the tower, when Blue-Jay leaned forward and kissed Robin.

Batman raised an eyebrow and frowned when Robin did not push her away. From his point of view, his young ward was setting himself up for a very hard decision.

He had long since come to the conclusion that there was a great deal of potential between Blue-Jay and Robin for a romantic relationship, but Tim and RJ also had a great amount of promise. Blue-Jay had to be aware that Tim was dating RJ, but the situation between the two vigilantes did offer them one thing that RJ could not offer, as of yet: Security.

Blue-Jay knew both of the boys' egos, and she had proved to be very skilled in keeping secrets. A relationship between her and Robin would allow him to be more comfortable out on the streets, knowing that she could readily take care of herself. As far as Batman knew, RJ could not fight at all.

Both girls had qualities that Tim found appealing, but he couldn't have them both, he would have to choose between them sooner or later, and no matter who he chose, someone was likely to get hurt.

* * *

Blue-Jay's eyes went wide in shock, "What-How!" Robin smiled gently at her, saying "I have not kissed many girls, but the ones that I have all tasted different, you and RJ both taste exactly the same, for that to be possible, you and RJ would have to be the same girl." She blushed slightly, saying "Oh." "Oh, don't worry, you taste good, and I won't tell anyone." "You're not angry?" "Of course not, you obviously weren't ready to tell anyone your secret, how could I be angry at you for that?" She smiled at him and kissed him again.

* * *

When they kissed a second time, Batman decided that he better interrupt. Shooting off a grapple, he swung up to the roof of Wayne Tower.

The two teens jumped apart when he landed and Blue-Jay glared at him while Robin looked slightly sheepish. "Okay, you two." He said "The Joker is on his way back to Arkham, but there is a shipment of weapons coming in at the docks around one a.m., that gives us fifteen minutes to get there."

Robin and Blue-Jay both nodded, both having already known about the shipment beforehand, thanks to Blue-Jay. They had been going to take care of it by themselves, but, after the train issue, they had both had the feeling that Batman wouldn't allow that and Blue-Jay had told Batgirl who, in turn, had told the comish. And now, as it seemed, the commissioner had told Batman about it, so they would be going there anyway. Talk about coming full-circle.

* * *

Blue-Jay didn't talk to Batman for the entire drive to the docks, and the man didn't talk to her. Batman knew that he would have to find some way to straighten things out between them again soon, before their relationship got any more strained. But, he had been forced to admit, he was unsure how to do so.

Once again, Batman was reminded of just how much of an enigma the girl was to him. He had to sometimes remind himself that she was not a sidekick, and therefore was not likely to appreciate being treated as one, but he had a hard time bringing himself to treat her like a seasoned hero. After all, she had only been at this for just over a year, and she was still very young.

Before his thoughts could go any farther, however, they reached the dockyards.

* * *

The men there were already unloading the ships cargo. It was another one of her fathers' ships, though he owned this one under the codename: Shade. He had three fleets of running boats, each fleet under a different codename. The three names were Shade, Stallion, and Albatross.

Batman, Robin and Blue-Jay watched from the roof of a pub for a few minutes before making their move. "I want you two to stay together at all times, got it?" Batman said, the two teens rolled their eyes, but he knew that they would stay together.

Batman swung down, taking out one of the bigger armed men as Robin and Blue-Jay did the same to two other men. They made short work of most of the smugglers, and Blue-Jay and Robin stayed together as they chased after a few runners.

After taking care of them, the two teens were heading back to the ship, when Blue-Jay spotted a crate that had the markings of one of her mothers' drug shipments that was headed to Metropolis.

Pointing the crate out to Robin, they both trotted over and pulled out batarangs. Jamming them into the lid of the crate, they both applied as much pressure as they could, and their combined effort was able to pop the lid off a little bit.

Looking inside, they found something that they most certainly did not expect. Kryptonite.

* * *

The green rock glowed eerily, lighting them up in a sickly green shade. They both stood there for a moment, before Blue-Jay reached in and seized two small chunks of the rock and closed the lid . With Robins' help, she re-secured the lid of the crate so that it seemed that it had never been touched. After planting a small tracking device in a crack between two of the boards, Blue-Jay and Robin continued on their way back to the ship.

* * *

Blue-Jay handed one of the rocks to Robin and they both slipped them into their belts as they walked. "It looks like I'm going to be taking a trip to Metropolis." Blue-Jay said, as they moved through the maze of crates and boxes. "Can I come with you?" she smiled at him, saying "I don't think so, it might be suspicious if both of us showed up-" "Which is why _neither_ of you will show up."

The two teens groaned as Batman appeared behind them, scowling, as usual. "I'll tell Superman what you found, but you are staying in Gotham, understand?" The venomous glower he received from Blue-Jay told him that she was less than willing to comply. So, before she could protest, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack and began to carry her towards the batmobile.

As soon as she got over he initial shock of being picked up and thrown over a shoulder, Blue-Jay began beating on Batman's back with her fists, saying "Put me down!" needless to say, neither her fists nor her words had any effect on the man. Robin was smirking and the police, who had arrived not long ago, stared for a moment, before they, too, had to control their amusement. Blue-Jay glowered at them all as Batman walked past them.

Bullock finally couldn't help it any longer and burst out laughing. Blue-Jay looked mutinous as Batman slid back the roof of the car and dropped her inside. "You will pay for that, _understand?" _she hissed, Batman didn't flinch, but she could tell that he found this amusing.

As Robin hopped into the back seat beside her, she glared at him as well, but he braved her gaze and instead sat silently beside her. She calmed when she saw that he was restraining his mirth in her presents now, wanting to sooth his girlfriends' bruised ego. While it didn't seem funny now, Blue-Jay would find the incident to be amusing in the years that followed.

* * *

After the bust at the docks, Batman could tell that the two birds were tired, even if they hid the signs of it well. It was getting late, even for them, so he headed back to the batcave.

Once there, Robin almost immediately went to shower, change and go up to bed but not before pecking Blue-Jay on the cheek, an action that Batman frowned at.

Blue-Jay was about to vanish off to wherever she went to get in and out of the batcave, they still had been unable to locate the passage, much to Batmans frustration, when he stopped her.

"Blue-Jay," he called. He had been thinking about how he would do this all evening, and had decided that the straight forward truth was the best method, as it often was. "I didn't mean that you were intentionally trying to kill the Joker, it just appeared to me that you knocked him off the catwalk without thinking."

The girl had stopped walking when he started speaking, and now she turned to face him, her masked eyes and her posture holding an emotion that he couldn't quite recognize. When she spoke, her voice was calm and emotionless, not holding the slightest hint of what she might be thinking or feeling. It was a hollow tone that held no threat and yet was far from benign, demanding the attention of all who heard it. But it was her words that got to him.

"Look, Batman, I realize that you don't like me. Truthfully, you don't have any reason to like me, you may actually have reason to hate me, more than anything, but I would still appreciate it you would try to show the same professional courtesy that I do my best to show you." She cocked her head, the way Robin often did, before continuing when he did not say anything. "I may not be perfect and I will admit I am sometimes disrespectful," Batman snorted inwardly at that statement, but didn't interrupt, "But I try, and either way, it's not fair for us to make Robin be the constant peace keeper."

A moment later she was gone. However, her words would continue to trouble him for quite some time, especially when she had said that he more or less hated her. It would also take him a long while to tell her that he _didn't _hate her.

* * *

(Review please)

(AN: Sorry about the wait, I have been having some writers block lately, so it might be a few days before I update again, but I WILL update!)


	14. Robins in the Roost

**Chapter Thirteen: Robins in the Roost**

(Batman is not mine)

Blue-Jay walked into the Roost, pulling off her cape as she headed for the showers. Stripping off her costume and stepping under the hot spray, Blue-Jay sighed as she took a bottle of shampoo from the shelf carved into the wall. Dumping a pile of the raspberry gel into the palm of her hand and massaging it into her hair.

The suds ran down her back and chest as she rinsed them out of her pale hair. As she rubbed raspberry scented conditioner into her long locks, Blue-Jay thought about that night. She knew that she had overreacted at the factory, but he didn't have the right to judge her like that. She wondered if he would take her words in the cave as seriously as she hoped he would.

As she scrubbed the sweat and dirt from her body, she glanced at the faint scars on her shoulder and arm from the bites that the hyenas had given her, they weren't the only ones she had.

There were smaller ones from encounters with knives and the occasional bullet, though none actually got through the material of her costume, they still left marks, and the bruising that she constantly had also marred her pale skin. While she did not have anywhere near the amount of scarring that Batman had, she had long since realized that the marks were not something to be ashamed of, in a weird sort of way, they were more like a badge of honor or station, something that was _earned_. It marked you for who and what you were.

* * *

After stepping out of the shower, Blue-Jay toweled off and pulled on some PJs before going up to her room.

There was something she found kind of strange about coming and going from the Roost, while down there, she was Blue-Jay, whether or not she was wearing her costume, she only became RJ when she left the cave without the mask on. Maybe it was something to do with being a hero, or maybe it was something in the air in the cave, she didn't know.

Flopping down on her bed, RJ thought over what she had said to Batman, she knew that she must have sounded cold, but what she had said was true, she did show professional courtesy towards him more often than not, but sometimes he just made it hard.

Shaking her head, she pushed the excess thoughts from her mind and meditated until she fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, RJ woke bright and early, as always, and went out to her birds. The raven was finished with training, as was the robin, and the flock of blue-jays were getting close.

She had been out there for a few hours, when she looked towards the house and saw Tim coming towards her. She smiled as he neared her, saying "Hi." And giving him a small kiss, which he returned.

"So," Tim said "Are you going to tell me how you did the impossible? How you fooled The Batman?" RJ smirked slyly as she put the raven away. "If you insist. Come on, I'll show you." And she led him back up to the house.

* * *

"Cool room!" Tim said, looking around at all the gaming systems that she had collected over the years. She smirked, saying "Wait until you see my other one."

Walking into her closet, she pushed the secret panel and Tim gasped as the back of the closet slid up, revealing the old elevator. He looked at her, wide-eyed "Does this go where I think it goes?" He asked. Her smile widened and she got in, pulling him along with her.

After closing the cage door, she sent them down to the Roost.

* * *

Tim was so shocked by the Roost that all he could do was stand, stock still, in the elevator, his eyes huge and his mouth wide open. But who could blame him? The place was more incredible than he had ever imagined.

He could see a large supercomputer, one even more up-to-date than the Batcomputer, a top-of-the-line chemistry lab, a gym and training area, a small med bay, and racks upon racks of gadgets, gizmos and tools the like of which he had never seen before. Also, rising plumes of steam coming from a part of the cave a little farther away indicated that she had been lucky enough to score a cave that had access to a hot spring.

Tim was finally broken out of his daze by RJ bursting into a fit of the giggles. Turning to look at her, he discovered that she had retrieved one of her gloves and had curled it into a fist. After a moment, he saw the tiny lens in the side of the knuckle and realized that it was a camera, with which she had just snapped a photo of him. She was grinning like the Cheshire cat. Still shocked he struggled to speak "How-How?" "How did I get all of this?" He nodded and she smiled "Easy, I built it." His eyes bugged out a little and she giggled.

Tim shook his head, throwing off his daze to the best of his ability. "So, how _did _you fool Batman?" She smirked again and motioned for him to follow her.

She led him over to a rack that held a multitude of unfamiliar instruments, and ran her hand over them for a few moments before stopping and plucking a small object from its slot.

It was black, flat and about an inch wide and three inches long with a luster like that of metal. But it wasn't metal, Tim could tell that it wasn't the moment RJ handed it to him. It was smooth and cold, but warmed quickly in his hand. "What is it?" He asked and RJ took a small remote from the slot on the rack that was right next to the one that has held the object.

The remote was also flat, but slightly curved, fitting the palm of her hand snugly in such a way that she could bend her middle finger and press the button in the center of it, the button that was angled in the material so that only that finger could push it correctly.

Turning it in her hand, RJ pushed the button. Immediately, the object in Tim's hand began to shine slightly, and an image of RJ, dressed as she had been on the night of the concert, appeared in front of them.

Tim saw that the hologram was not a perfect look-alike, but it was close enough to fool anyone who did not have time to look carefully. Either way, it was amazing.

The hologram faded when RJ pushed the button a second time, and she put both gadgets back into their foam slots. "You made that, too?" "Yep, I built and invented almost everything here." "Amazing!" She smiled at him again and was about to say something, when Pierre came into the Roost and said "Master RJ, Master Timothy, I do believe there is something on the news that you might find of interest." The teens exchanged a glance and then Tim followed RJ over to the computer.

RJ brought up one of the Gotham news networks and both she and Tim saw what Pierre meant in full. "What the heck is that!" Tim exclaimed, staring at the screen with wide eyes. RJ studied the screen for a moment before speaking. "I could be mistaken, but it appears to be a plant of some sort, covered in pods." And that was what it looked like. RJ turned to Tim and said "Shall we?" he smirked and they both darted over to the costume area.

* * *

(Review, please)

(AN: I am SO SORRY I took so long to update, but I just got a new job and have been adjusting to the lack of freedom that I'm accustomed to. I'll try to update more often.)


	15. Alien Invasion or Poison Ivy?

**Chapter Fourteen: Alien Invasion or Poison Ivy?**

(Batman is not mine)

"This is one sweet set of wheels!" Robin said as they shot out of the Roost in Blue-Jay's car, The Wraith. Blue-Jay smiled, saying "Thanks, I built it myself." Robins' mouth fell open and Blue-Jay giggled.

* * *

The plant was in downtown Gotham, right outside the corporate headquarters of Gothcorp, one of the top companies situated in Gotham, and also one of the biggest players in the deforestation of the rainforests. That in itself was a motive for Poison Ivy to attack them, without even going into all of the other things they did. Actually, Blue-Jay was half expecting Aquaman to come storming into Gotham any day now.

The thing was just as it had been on TV, only even worse now that they were close enough to see the details.

The he vine reminded RJ of the movie _Fern Gully, _at the end, when the fairies had trapped Hexus in the plant, it had looked like an up-side-down green cyclone, covered in flowers, only here the flowers were pods, and nasty ones at that. They were a sickly yellowish green hue, covered with reddish-black spots, and they were pulsing slightly in time with each other.

As Blue-Jay and Robin approached cautiously, Batman pulled up in the batmobile. Predictably, he grabbed them both and pulled them back, earning another exasperated glare from Blue-Jay. "I don't want either of you to go near it until I have a better idea of what we are dealing with." The Dark Knight said, sternly, before going over to the commissioner, the two birds following.

* * *

Blue-Jay and Robin didn't look away from the vine, and were therefore the first to see the pods begin to open. And when they did, Blue-Jay would spend the rest of the day mentally thanking Batman for not letting her and Robin go any closer.

As they watched, one of the pods seemed to squirm and Blue-Jay nudged Robin, pointing the pod out to him. As they both focused on the offending pod, the one next to it also began to squirm slightly, soon, a whole group of them were. Then the first one split open.

The thing that came out was something that Blue-Jay would put on her list of 'Creepiest Critters' the moment she got home. Covered in slime and goo, it stood about ten feet tall, with mottled gray skin with a texture that reminded Blue-Jay of rough bark, an elongated, stem-like body, long, branch-like limbs and was covered in thorn-like barbs. It also had a large, lipless mouth with thorny teeth.

Both Blue-Jay and Robin stared at it for a moment, before they simultaneously reached out and tugged on Batman's cape. He turned around, and instantly pulled the two teens behind a patrol car as every cop in the vicinity took cover.

"So," Blue-Jay whispered to Robin "Poison Ivy or alien invasion?" Before Robin could answer, Batman said "Poison Ivy." Blue-Jay looked at him "How can you tell?" she asked, wondering how he could be so sure. She knew he had had quite a lot of experience with Poison Ivy, but the plant lady was not the only possibility, it could have been Farmer Brown, who was currently out on parole.

Living in Gotham had taught Blue-Jay to expect the unexpected, and the incident with the parasites from space had only strengthened that awareness. Blue-Jay had had little difficulty believing in aliens, and she had wanted to meet the Martian Manhunter ever since he had surfaced.

Aliens had always fascinated her, when one thought about it, humans were just as much aliens as anything else in the galaxy, once we left earth, and having already met one person from outer space, she had craved to meet more.

"It has all the earmarks of her work," Batman said "It resembles a plant and yet can move like an intelligent being, plus, I have seen her create something similar." Blue-Jay was about to ask what he was talking about, when the 'pod creature' let out a hair-raising shriek that shattered the glass in the windows of the surrounding buildings for several stories. Blue-Jay and Robin both clamped their hands over their ears and crouched down, squeezing their eyes shut in an attempt to block out the noise.

The screeching was so horrible, grating on the eardrums of all who heard it, and it got worse as more creatures 'hatched' and began to scream. Blue-Jay and Robin were so busy trying to block out the sound that they forgot about all the broken windows, and the falling glass. But Batman didn't, and when the noise finally stopped, the two birds unplugged their ears and opened their eyes to find that they were both being shielded from the glass by Batman's cape. He had leaned over them and used the cloth as a sort of tent to keep the shards off of the two.

As he straightened up, glass fragments slid off his back and into the folds of his cape on the ground. Blue-Jay looked up at him and he glanced at her for a second before turning back to the creature, an action which she duplicated a moment later.

Looking at the creatures for the second time, Blue-Jay noticed several things that she hadn't before. The creatures' eyes were huge and pale, too pale to be designed for the daylight. "Uh-oh." She whispered as the reasons for that oddity dawned on her. Batman seemed to have realized the same thing, because when Blue-Jay and Robin tried to move away from the things, he sized them both and kept them hidden under his cape with their heads down. But the breeze was against them, blowing from them to the 'Insects' and the bugs had caught their scent.

* * *

The biggest bug had hatched first, and was the one closest to them. It opened its mouth again and made a loud clicking noise that seemed to echo off everything around it, but it was really the clicking of all the other bugs as they turned to follow the bigger one. It began to move towards them at astonishing speed and Blue-Jay and Robin immediately knew that they would never be able to out run it.

Blue-Jays reaction was to pull out a grapple and shoot it at the things legs. It wound around them and both Batman and Robin sized the line and as one they pulled, sending the beast to the ground with a crash that as it crushed a cop car. White goo oozed from its ruined right eye as it righted itself and Blue-Jay had to work hard not to try and wipe the bit of slime off of her cape.

The bugs ignored the police that were firing at them, confirming what Blue-Jay had dreaded: the Bugs had been designed specifically to hunt them and no one else. However, they did have a few advantages, they had until dark until the bugs would be able to see properly, so they did have some time to find a way to destroy them. Another advantage the humans had was that the insects were unable to fly.

Blue-Jay was about to head for the Wraith, when Batman seized both her and Robin and tossed them into the Batmobile before jumping in himself and flooring it.

* * *

"They have been specifically designed to hunt at night." Batman confirmed, as they all looked over the results from the slime off of Blue-Jays cape. "Not just at night," Blue-Jay said "They were designed to hunt _us _specifically. Didn't you notice how they recognized out scent when the wind blew it to them?" Batman nodded.

"So, are we using bug spray or weed killer?" Robin asked. "Neither." Batman replied "They were engineered to resist both pesticides and herbicides." Blue-Jay finished. "So how do we destroy them?" he asked, exasperatedly "With a designer poison." Blue-Jay said. Batman nodded again. Without further comment, they got to work.

* * *

Robin, having no basis in this sort of thing, sat back and watched the two work. It was odd, the night before they had been at each others throats, but now they were putting up with each other quite well. Apparently, a truce of some sort had been formed.

While he wasn't about to complain, Robin did find it rather eerie that, once they had set aside their irritation towards one another, Blue-Jay and Batman worked together well, almost seeming to know what the other was thinking as they worked and hardly ever speaking, their work quickly taking shape under their practiced hands.

The result was a highly lethal toxin that would kill a human within seconds of contact and the insects within minutes. Batman would not let Blue-Jay handle it, even with gloves and a mask, to her annoyance, but for the sake of the setting sun she didn't argue and sat down beside Robin as the man filled small canisters full of the toxin. The canisters were stainless steel and each contained a lethal dose for the insects. They were made to split in half thirty seconds after being armed, giving them time to get them into the insects mouths. The poison had to be ingested to be effective.

After successfully filling one-hundred and twenty-five canisters, Batman divided them into groups of twenty-five, and giving one group to each of them, Nightwing and Batgirl having arrived just as the toxin was finished.

Blue-Jay and Nightwing were not thrilled about being paired together, so Robin opted to swap with Blue-Jay, and Batman seemed to feel that as long as the two were not on their own it would do, and he and Blue-Jay left in the Batwing.

* * *

The sun was jus disappearing below the horizon as the Batwing left the cave, and Blue-Jay could see the lights of the city beginning to flicker on like little stars as the night descended.

"You haven't been back yet, have you?" Batman asked suddenly, "You haven't been back to the asylum." Blue-Jay was so shocked by this that her mouth fell open and her eyes went wide. "I'll take that as a 'no'." He said, dryly. "How, how-" "You have been acting rather," He paused, as if searching for the right word "Stiff," he finally decided on "Lately, not with us, but more in your demeanor. It's getting to you, you will have to go back soon." She sat in silence for a few moments, thinking over his words carefully before speaking.

"I know I need to go back, but right now it's just too hard." "The longer you wait the harder it will get." She bit her lip slightly "I know, I just can't seem to make myself go back. I know that the people who died deserve to be brought out of there and that their families deserve to have closure and a body to bury, but it's just too hard."

It was strange, telling him this, and as she did, she felt different. She was use to keeping everything to herself, but she did not have much difficulty in saying this to the Dark Knight, even though she was still having difficulty saying it to herself.

He let the matter rest there with a slight nod and a glance back at her, and they fell into silence, but one that was less tense than any other quiet moment that had been shared between them, not that there was much to compare it to besides a handful of patrols when Robin had had to stay home and study.

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* * *

(AN: I am SOOOOOO SORRY that it took so long for me to update, but my mom said that even writers deserve a vacation. In other words, she said 'Get off the computer and stay off until I say so', so I've had to sneak time on the computer to type this chapter and only just got the chance to put it up!)

(Review, please!)


	16. It Just Doesn’t Make Sense!

**Chapter Fifteen: It Just Doesn't Make Sense!**

(AN: Batman is not mine)

_It had taken some persuasion, but things were finally underway. The Blue-Jay would not be free for long.

* * *

_

Batman brought the Batwing in for a smooth landing on the roof of one of the buildings not far from the vine. The police had evacuated and blocked off several blocks in either direction, and they could see several bugs mulling around and ripping apart the occasional car, but not showing much interest in the buildings, being more content to eat garbage and the occasional stray animal.

Blue-Jay had sent the Wraith back to the Roost earlier, so it was no longer present, she would have hated for it to be destroyed on its first time out.

The bugs had all 'hatched' and the pods were shriveled and empty, with no signs of more growing. The bugs themselves now seemed to become more active as the sun set, their eyes beginning to glow eerily. Blue-Jay picked out the big one by its one glowing orb to the others pair.

Before they went down, Blue-Jay voiced something that had been bothering her for a while. "Why would Poison Ivy go through all the trouble of making these things, she doesn't have much reason too, these things were obviously not meant to attack Gothcorp, after all?" "All the criminals in Gotham want us dead, that's a perfect reason for her to do this." Batman said, but Blue-Jay wasn't satisfied "But it doesn't make any _sense, _even for a super-criminal like Ivy. The norm for attempts on a vigilantes life is for the criminal to lure or force them into a position where the vigilante would seem helpless. Also, Poison Ivy would want people to _know _that this was her work, and let's not forget the tendency of a criminal to monologue."

He paused for a moment to consider this, before tying a grapple to a gargoyle and jumping over the edge of the roof. Blue-Jay followed moments later, still troubled.

* * *

She must have showed her preoccupation, because they were only about three floors down when she slipped slightly and Batman reached up and grabbed her. It took a lot for her to hold back a squeak of surprise and indignation when he did this and tried to squirm out of his grip. "What are you doing?" she hissed, glaring at him. He didn't respond, only tossed her up slightly and catching her around her waist, pulling her up against his chest as he continued down the wall.

"Stay focused." He said into her ear as he climbed. Blue-Jay tensed slightly

"I've never dealt with anything like this before." She hissed, slightly defensively.

"All the more reason to stay focused, now snap out of it, or I'm taking you back to the cave."

She glowered at him, "I don't like ultimatums, Batman."

"Then don't make me give them.'

Blue-Jay felt an argument coming on and said quickly "Let's just get this done, then we can argue, 'k?" he didn't say anything, just continued down the wall.

Without warning, Batman kicked off from the wall and let go. They fell four floors before he grabbed a ledge and swung them onto the one below it.

Once he was balanced, Blue-Jay thumped him on the chest and hissed, "Don't do that again!"

"Then don't let yourself get distracted." His face was in shadow, but Blue-Jay was almost positive she had heard a trace of mirth in his voice. She opened her mouth so give him a smart-aliky reply, only to have to suppress another shriek when he let go of the wall and kicked off for the second time.

They dropped the remaining three stories and Batman went into a roll that caused him to end up on his feet, undamaged, and with Blue-Jay still held against his chest, slightly annoyed, but unhurt.

Before she could start hissing at him like an angry goose, he ducked behind a car and bent over her, his cape draping down like a tent, concealing her from view and rendering her blind to the world outside.

Blue-Jay didn't move, for she could hear at least one insect very close by. That must have been why Batman had jumped, the thing would have seen them if they had stayed up there much longer and Blue-Jay felt a slight blush creep into her cheeks as she realized what he had meant by not getting distracted. But there was something that Blue-Jay was confused about: Why couldn't it smell them?

Then she realized that Batman's cape and costume smelled odd, not bad, in fact, he smelled completely and rather strongly of cedar. She was surprised that she hadn't noticed it before, he smelled as if he had just rolled in a pile of fresh cedar chips.

"You smell nice." She commented, once she was sure the insect was far enough away that she wouldn't be heard "New aftershave?"

"It keeps them from recognizing my scent, Robin, Nightwing and Batgirl also sprayed down."

"What about me?' she asked, a little hurt that he hadn't offered to treat her costume.

In response, he removed a small green capsule from his belt and threw it against the ground. Instantly, Blue-Jay was covered in the scent of cedar. "Thanks." She whispered, he didn't respond.

Instead, he let her go, setting her gently down before darting out from behind the car. Blue-Jay followed, keeping low and trying her best to keep her cape around her, to conceal the blue of her costume. She didn't know weather or not the bugs could see color, but had decided not to risk it.

It was as she darted behind a dumpster, that Blue-Jay got her first opportunity. One insect had picked up a garbage can and was in the process of swallowing it whole. It had started with the bottom and the lid was missing. Quickly, Blue-Jay armed a capsule and lobbed it into the can, moments later; the can had vanished completely down the bugs' gullet.

It made to move on, only to lose control of its legs and fall to the ground. It started to convulse and then just lay there, twitching.

The time it took for the insect to succumb to the poison had been about thirty seconds, and Blue-Jay had been unable to look away as it died.

Suddenly, she felt Batman pick her up again and dart away from the dumpster as other creatures came over to investigate the twitching body of their fallen comrade.

Somehow, the bugs failed to see them as they crossed the street behind the group.

When they reached the darkness of an alleyway, Batman hissed "I thought I told you to stay near me?!" but Blue-Jay didn't seem to register the question, in fact, she didn't seem to be listening to him at all, her eyes were still fixed on the dead creature and her face was as white as a bleached sheet.

Blue-Jay couldn't look away from the dead thing; everything else seemed to just vanish, leaving nothing but its twitching form. Only when she was forced to turn away from it did she return to reality.

The first thing she saw was Batman looking at her, his white eyes slightly wider than normal. "What?" she asked, confused. He didn't answer, but kept looking at her for a few moments, making her feel slightly unnerved. She tried to take a step back, only to find that he still had a firm grip on her shoulders and was holding her in place.

Finally, he let her go and turned to look back at the group of insects. His eyes narrowed as he observed the twitching one for a few seconds, before reaching down and seizing Blue-Jay about the waist again as he shot a grapple up to the roof of one of the buildings that they were standing between. She didn't protest as he lifted her up to the roof with him, in fact, she hardly seemed aware of it.

"I want you to go back to the jet and wait for me there, alright?" Batman told her as they reached the rooftop. The small girl nodded and he set her down and she handed him her capsules of poison. The jet was visible from where they were standing and Batman watched as Blue-Jay took one of her own grapples and ran for the edge of the roof. Leaping off the ledge, she shot the grapple off and swung around the side of the building as it pulled her up to the roof. He watched until he saw her climb into the jet and the cockpit glass slide closed over her. Only then did he turn his attention back to the streets and the problem at hand.

As he returned to the alleyway, he was thinking hard, wondering what had caused the girl to react to the dying animal the way she had. It didn't make sense; she was one of the toughest people that he knew for obvious reasons, so why would something like this elicit that kind of response? Batman shook himself; he would have to think about that later, right now he had work to do.

* * *

Blue-Jay sat in the Batwing in silence. After a moment she shivered and didn't stop shivering. Pulling her legs to her chest she wrapped her arms around them and pressed her face into her knees.

She knew that they were not people, and she had had no trouble with killing one. But as it had died the way it had twitched and shuddered, it had been just like the people in the old asylum as they had died, ripping each other apart like just so many animals.

Until this point Blue-Jay had suppressed most of the experience with meditation and concentration, but the sight of the dying creature had brought back the memories with cruel clarity.

She knew that Batman was right, she had to go back to the asylum before it drove her mad, which it was already starting to do. But she didn't think, no she _knew _that she would never be able to go alone.

She could ask Robin, he wouldn't hesitate to go with her, but she didn't want him to have to see what was down there. Actually, she was pretty sure that Batman had blocked his view of the videotape she had brought with his cape, so all Robin had really experienced was the secondhand screams and while those would have been bad enough, they would have been no where near as traumatizing as having actually seen the whole thing first hand. There was no way Blue-Jay was going to expose her boyfriend to that place. But then who _could _she ask?

Nightwing? Not likely. He might not hate her but he wasn't very fond of her either. She guessed that that was partially because she hadn't put forth as much effort with him as she would have liked, due to the fact that he wasn't around as often as the others were. Also, she had the feeling that he felt that she was trying to put his adoptive little brother into a hard situation. It was becoming common knowledge that a romantic relationship between RJ Falcon and Tim Drake was quickly becoming a reality; the problem was that Tim was the only one besides Pierre that knew that Blue-Jay and RJ were the same girl, meaning that Nightwing felt that Blue-Jay was attempting to screw up Robins love life.

Batgirl was a more likely candidate that Nightwing, but Blue-Jay didn't think she would take the place very well. All that really left was Batman. Well, she supposed that she could give someone outside Gotham a call but that would be awkward and not to mention selfish to call them away from the city that they had sworn to protect. But how could she ask him, and why would he even consider coming with?

Blue-Jay sighed softly; she would probably just have to go alone in the end.

* * *

AN: Please Review.

P.S.: It's my senior year of high school and that combined with my job is causing my stress level to go through the roof! But still I _finally _got past my writers block and am updating again! Thank you to all those who continue to read and review on my work!


	17. A trick of the light

**Chapter Sixteen: A trick of the light**

(Batman is not mine!)

She had been so deep in thought that she jumped slightly when the cockpit glass slid back to reveal Batman. "Finished?" he nodded as he jumped into the pilots chair in front of her.

For the first few moments in the air neither spoke, then Blue-Jay said "Sorry about that." Her voice was quiet but she was sure that he had heard her. Neither of the spoke for the remainder of the flight.

* * *

Blue-Jay didn't say anything as she got out of the jet and headed for where Robin was standing, in front of the Bat computer. He turned to look at her as she reached him and frowned "Are you alright?" he asked, sounding worried.

She nodded and said, softly "I'll be fine." Robin looked skeptical but didn't push her for more, merely wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her a little closer to him.

Batman frowned slightly. He could tell that this gesture was more one meant to comfort than one with romantic implications, but he still felt that Robin was not putting himself in a good position regarding the two teen girls in his life. He could tell that the boy cared deeply for them both but, in the end; he would only be able to have one of them. It was not going to be an easy choice, especially when both Blue-Jay and RJ cared for Tim so much in return. As much as the boy wanted it to happen, the two girls could not simply turn into one girl by a trick of the light.

Or could they?

This thought caused Batman to think of something that he hadn't before. If he disregarded the time at the concert where he had seen the two girls in the same place at the same time, there was absolutely _nothing _that said that Blue-Jay and RJ were _not_ the same girl. That would explain how she could afford to be Blue-Jay, and if Robin knew about this it would also account for his lack of caution concerning the two separate romances developing in his life.

Batman walked over to the computer and said to the two "It's late, you two need your rest." They looked at him oddly. "You need more sleep than I do, and Blue-Jay," he turned to look directly at the girl who had opened her mouth to argue "You've been patrolling with us every night, don't think that I haven't noticed just how little sleep you have been getting. Go home."

The girl was obviously still intent on arguing, but unfortunately for her she was unable to suppress the yawn that came from her mouth instead of words. Knowing that she had lost the dispute she didn't bother to start it, instead nodding, giving Robin a small hug and walking off into the darkness of the back of the cave.

Only moments later Robin lost his own battle with tiredness and went upstairs yawning as well.

* * *

The moment he was sure that both bird wonders were out of sight and hearing distance, Batman sat down at the computer and brought up the file of everything he had on and from Blue-Jay. Nightwing sat in a side chair, glowering at the picture of the girl that was now up on the screen beside the incomplete profile.

From the time she had first appeared to the present, the only real information that they had managed to acquire on Blue-Jay was her skin and hair color, an approximate level of training, height, weight and estimated age, Batman had put her age at sixteen, the same age as Robin and RJ.

There were several other slots for other information such as place of birth, real name and motive, all of which were blank, but there was also a space that was labeled _Possible Identities. _That space was currently blank, but as Nightwing watched, Batman typed in the only name that had ever occupied that particular space: Robyn Jayvanya Falcon.

Nightwing pulled his feet off of the console that they had been resting on and sat up straight. "But how could that be possible? We all saw them together at the concert!"

"We saw Blue-Jay and someone who _looked _like RJ together at the concert." Batman said. "But imagine that none of us had seen RJ after she got separated from you in the rush to get out." He hit a button on the keyboard and a photo of RJ came up, the girls were the same size, body type, approximate age and weight and both had an unusual love for birds. "Nothing we know says that they are _not _the same girl."

Suddenly Nightwing leaned forwards and over the keyboard, brushing Batman's hands aside as he typed in a command. He brought up the video feed from one of the undamaged security cameras from the theater the night of Cassidy's' concert and ran it forwards until it got to the point where RJ came back through the doors, it was then that he paused it, freezing the girl in the frame. He looked at it closely for a few moments before turning to his elder and saying "Does this picture look a little off color to you?" Batman looked and saw that Nightwing was right; RJ's hair was less blond and more white than it should have been, even on film.

"It could just be the lighting." He said, but then he got another idea. In their photos, Blue-Jay and RJ had the _exact _same hair color, which ment that Blue-Jays hair would be the same colorless shade as RJs' under the same lighting conditions. He went forwards to where Blue-Jay was standing directly beside RJ and was in the motion of pushing her back outside. The color was different. Blue-Jays hair was still blond while RJ's was not, even under the same light, that meant that either RJ had stopped to bleach her hair while she was running from the theater, or something else was going on.

"Wait a second." Nightwing reached forwards and went back on the tape to where they were entering the theater. They watched it in regular time for a few moments, and they both saw RJ stumble slightly as she crossed the threshold and put her hand up against the doorframe, despite the fact the Tim had already taken her arm to help steady her. Batman went back and played it again, in slow motion.

As they watched, both he and Nightwing could see that she had deliberately put her hand on the doorframe when she had no reason to. Again, Batman went forwards to the point where RJ had appeared by the door. They watched in slow motion as Blue-Jay pushed the other girl back out, then, as she came back in, they both saw that her hand went back to the exact spot that RJ had put her hand up against the first time that she had come in. It looked as if she was removing something from the frame, but they couldn't see what.

The two men looked at each other for a moment, before Batman went back to a point with both girls in the frame. He zoomed in until the two took up most of the frame. They both stared at it for a second, before Nightwing asked "The cameras from the theater were all replaced about three moths ago, right?" Batman nodded "So they would have picked up the heat signature of all the people as well as the visual, right?" Realizing what Nightwing had in mind, Batman switched on the cameras infrared filter.

After a moment the screen turned red and Blue-Jay was replaced by a human-shaped image of white light, showing the heat that her body was giving off. RJ, on the other hand, had vanished completely. That meant that she had had no heat signature, and as all living humans must have a heat signature that could only mean one thing: she had been a hologram.

* * *

The two men looked from the screen to each other and then back to the screen. Neither said a word.

Finally, Nightwing spoke "So, RJ Falcon and Blue-Jay _are _the same girl after all."

Batman nodded, saying "Without a doubt, and I'm positive that Robin has known for a while, possibly from the beginning."

Comprehension came onto Nightwings face "So _that's _why he wasn't anxious about seeing both Blue-Jay and RJ, he knew that they were the same girl from the start!" Batman nodded again "And that's why Blue-Jay never got on Robins case about RJ," the Aerial Avenger continued "She wasn't confident that he would choose her over RJshe _knew_ that he knew both of her identities'!"

"Robin must know everything." Batman said as he typed the newly discovered information into Blue-Jays' profile, "The location of her hide-out, where the tunnel from the cave is, where she gets all of her equipment, everything."

Once again they were silent, then Nightwing asked "So, do we confront her with the evidence? She can't deny it."

Batman thought for a moment, then said "No, we'll wait until Bane is back behind bars. And besides, there is something else that I have to look into."

* * *

Not long after that Nightwing left. After he had departed, Batman pulled up the video file of the night in the asylum that Blue-Jay had given them. He played it several times, watching expressionlessly as the people beneath the glass tore each other apart like things not human. He watched it all the way through three times before he stopped it. He now knew why Blue-Jay had reacted so badly to the dying insect.

The creature may not have been human or even humanoid, but at the end of the tape he had clearly seen that several of the bodies had been twitching in their last death throws, just as the insect had been doing.

Batman was positive that the girl had, for the most part, suppressed the memories of the asylum, but at the sight of the insect's convulsions some of those memories could have re-surfaced, causing her negative reaction. That, along with the fact that she had been captured and nearly killed not long after would not have helped her mental reaction. In fact, Batman was almost positive that she had PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Or was at least in the early stages of it.

Over the last few weeks, Batman had noticed that Blue-Jay seemed to be more tired than normal, even for a vigilantly, also, when she had been alone with him, she had a tendency to remain silent for the entire patrol, only speaking when she had to or when he said or did something that would incite an argument from her. Insomnia and depression were both symptoms of PTSD but it wasn't enough for him to be absolutely sure. He needed to find out if she was having any other symptoms and to find that out he would have to go straight to her.

Without saying anything to anyone, Batman exited Blue-Jays file, stood from his chair and walked over to the Batmobile. A moment later he was zooming out of the cave.

* * *

(AN: Please Review!) 


	18. A Night Terror and a Revelation

**Chapter Seventeen: A Night Terror and a Revelation**

(AN: Batman is not mine)

He still did not want to reveal that he knew that RJ and Blue-Jay were one and the same, but he also knew that it would be dangerous, even deadly to leave her alone and untreated if she did indeed have PTSD. She acted normal around Robin and Tim, but when he wasn't around there was no real way to tell how she was doing.

Pulling into a hidden spot on the far side of the Falcon estate, Batman quickly and quietly made his way to the house and to RJ's bedroom window. The window was locked, but it only took him a moment to open it.

Batman entered the girls' room and closed the windows behind him before turning to find her in the middle of a nightmare. She was tossing and turning and had tears streaming down her cheeks as she whimpered piteously in her sleep.

For a moment, Batman stood beside the bed, unsure of what to do, then he reached over and gripped the girls' wrists. She began to thrash wildly, her whimpers becoming soft cries as he pulled her to him. Wrapping his arms around her he pinned her to his chest, restraining her arms and legs so she could not twist free or hurt herself.

Witnessing his parents' murder had left Bruce with PTSD and the nightmares still haunted him. According to Alfred this was exactly what Bruce had often done when he was having a particularly violent nightmare and this was what Alfred would have to do to keep him from hurting himself.

He covered her mouth so she would not scream and bring anyone running, though he was sure that only her butler was in the house, her parents being off in Europe somewhere.

As he held her she thrashed harder than ever and suddenly her eyes flew open and she stared him straight in the face. But she was not looking at _him, _this he knew, she was looking at something that he could not see and her eyes were filled with pure fear and rage. She was having a Night Terror.

Still holding her immobile, Batman spoke softly to her "Blue-Jay." The moment she heard his voice the girl stopped thrashing and lay in his arms, tense and trembling. Carefully shifting his grip on her, Batman slipped one of his hands into hers. "Blue-Jay, I know that you're scared, but you have to listen to me, alright?" she twitched slightly and he squeezed her hand gently "I want you to squeeze my hand, if you do that then whatever you are seeing can't hurt you." Immediately the small girl began to squeeze his hand as hard as she could.

Once sure that she would not scream, Batman uncovered her mouth and moved his now free hand to her head. Slipping his fingers into her hair he began to massage her scalp slowly and gently. After a little while she began to relax, though she never let go of his hand. When she was no longer tense, Batman removed his hand from her hair and took a sedative from his belt, she barely even twitched as it was injected into her bloodstream and closed her eyes as she was returned to a more peaceful slumber.

As he put her back down on the bed, Batman could not help but realize once again just how small she was. For the first time he wondered if she ever got scared out on the streets, especially when she had started out. Robin had had him, Nightwing and Batgirl, but Blue-Jay had been all on her own. He remembered the night his parents had been killed and the years after it, the feeling of being so small in a world so vast and merciless. He wondered if she had ever felt that. More than likely.

After looking at her for a few more moments, Batman pulled the covers over her and stood. Walking to the door, he paused to glance back at her before leaving her room. He knew that she would not remember his presence when she woke in the morning. In the meantime, he had someone else to speak to.

It did not take him long to locate Pierre's room, it was on the ground floor, where Alfred had told him it was.

After he had discovered that his old friend was in Gotham, Alfred had given Pierre a call and they had rekindled their friendship. Alfred had told him that if RJ was up to something, anything, then Pierre would be just as involved as Alfred was with Bruce's own exploits. Meaning he would know everything there was to know about Blue-Jay and any injuries or plans that she might have.

He had only just entered the room when the light was switched on, revealing the elderly man sitting in the chair beside his bed. "I had the feeling that you would be turning up tonight."

Batman glared at the man but he only chuckled, saying "My dear boy, do you really believe that I would have been able to stay employed here without learning to survive a death-glare like that one?"

Batman didn't answer him instead he asked his first question "How long has she been having Night Terrors?"

The old man sighed sadly "Ever since Valentines day, though it had always been nightmares until now. She usually meditates to keep them back." Batman nodded, as he had suspected, she must have just been too tired tonight and had fallen asleep before she had gotten the chance to clear her mind. And the memories being brought back to the surface would also have contributed to the unusual intensity of the dream. He asked his next question.

"Has she been eating less than normal?"

Again the old man nodded "If you are asking these questions to see if she had PTSD I can save you the trouble of trying to piece it together: she does, and it's getting worse. I started looking into Psychology not long after she took up her new _activities. _I have been caring for her ever since she was born, I am not about to start slacking off now." He added at the questioning glance from Batman.

"Since she was born?"

Pierre looked sad when Batman raised an eyebrow at this. "Robyn's parents give her everything she could ever want except their affection. They are never here, they do not know their daughter at all, the first time she met them she was about six years old. Until they deemed her old enough to be shown off she hardly ever left the grounds and her only friends were her birds."

Batman was disturbed by this news. No parent should put travel over their child, no matter how much money or business they might have in other countries. He was pulled back to the present by Pierre speaking again. "I have never seen her work so hard to gain someone's approval, you know."

"What are you talking about?" Batman asked, unsure as to what the man was getting at.

"She has never had a real parental figure in her life before now and weather or not she will admit it to herself she has been seeking your approval from the beginning. She looks up to you more than anyone else I have ever seen."

Hearing this Batman felt shocked and awkward and decided to change the subject back to what he was here to find out. "Has she spoken to you about what she saw that night?" Pierre shook his head.

"She won't talk about it at all, I have tried, but she seems to want to do nothing more than forget it. But you know as well as I do that she will never be able to forget what she saw." The Dark Knight nodded and the older man continued "She blames herself, you know. She thinks that she should have at least tried to save them, she will never learn to forgive herself of her own accord, she needs help that I can't give her."

Once again Batman did not like where the conversation was headed and said "Thank you for telling me this, now if you will please excuse me." And with a flutter of his cape he was gone, the windows standing open to tell where he had exited.

Rising from his chair, Pierre moved to the windows and looked out of them to see the shape of a bat silhouetted against the moon for a few moments before it vanished. The old man stood in the window in silence for a moment, then said in a whisper so soft that he barely heard it himself "You are the only one who can save her from herself, Batman, she needs you, even if she won't let herself see that. She needs a father."

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(Please Review!) AN: I am so sorry that I took this long. I have several other chapters already written, so I just have to post them. I love you all for continuing to read! 


	19. The Watchtower

**Chapter Eighteen: The Watchtower **

(AN: Batman is not mine!)

RJ woke feeling more rested than normal and she soon realized why, it was almost noon.

She rolled over so that she was facing away from the window and closed her eyes again, trying to remember the dream that she had been having. It had been an odd one. It had started with her being terrified and desperately angry at whatever was scaring her, but she had no idea what the hell it had been that had scared her so much.

That part of the dream was, in itself, nothing new, she had been having it for as long as she could remember. She would wake up sweating and shaking, terrified, but she had never been able to remember what had scared her so much. The dream had not been so bad in the past few years but after the asylum it had come back with new force.

What had made this time so strange was the ending. She had been in the grips of fear and rage when suddenly she had felt herself encircled with warmth and safety and it felt as if someone was telling her that what ever it was could no longer hurt her.

After lying there for a few more moments, she got up and walked into her bathroom. After turning on the hot water she stripped off her PJs and stepped into the shower. As the water poured over her shoulders and the steam filled the room, she pushed the dream away, sending the fear and anger into oblivion and by the time she stepped out of the shower she felt more like herself again.

Once out of the shower she wrapped a towel around herself and re-entered her bedroom. She shivered slightly as she left the roomful of steam behind and the cooler air of her room hit her damp skin, the gloomy sky outside her window made it seem even chillier. Winter would be here soon.

* * *

By the time RJ had finished her brunch it had started to rain and was soon pouring. Pierre flat out refused to let her go outside, saying that it was to cold to be out in the rain. Annoyed, RJ headed down to the roost.

Reaching her destination, RJ sat down in front of the computer, intending to search for Bane again, a pastime that had become quite popular for her, only to realize that she just didn't feel like it. She had had a few leads, but nothing substantial had come of them so far.

Sighing, she placed one sneaker clad foot on the control panel and pushed, causing her chair to start spinning rapidly around and around. She loved doing this, as most teens did, but after only a few kicks, she allowed the chair to slow to a halt, having found no joy in it whatsoever.

It was a Wednesday, so Tim was in school and there was no one else she could really see herself spending time with out of costume, especially as Barb and Dick would both be at work.

After about an hour of staring off into space, RJ finally got up and walked over to the part of the cave where the hot-springs came up to form pools. The springs were in the part of the cave farthest from the elevator and the main part of the roost, the reason being RJ didn't want to expose the computer and the lab to the steam that the pools gave off.

The pools varied in size, the smallest of them being just the right size to soak your feet, while the biggest of them was the size of a small lake. The big one was even farther back, in a caver all its own. RJ still hadn't been able to explore the whole of it, nor was she going there with the intent to do so that day.

A small tunnel separated the lake from the rest of the Roost but it was not so small that an adult could not fit through; they would just have to crouch down a little. The tunnel was not very long but it sloped steeply downwards, so much so in fact, that once RJ had lost her footing and had slid the rest of the way to the bottom.

When she came out on the other side of the tunnel, RJ looked quietly out over the surface of the water that she had christened 'Dak-Ho'. Meaning 'Deep-Lake' in Japanese. The name fit.

The ceiling of the cavern was low compared to the Roost, only about fifty feet above the surface of the water, which was so deep that it was impossible to see the bottom when you got farther out and in the darkness of the cave the lake was as still as glass and as black as pitch.

RJ loved this place, it was the only place where she could be alone with her thoughts, but that was not the only reason.

Stripping off her clothing, RJ dove headfirst into the warm water. Instantly the water around her lit up with warm but strong white light. Wherever she swam and made the water move light resulted. RJ knew that it was caused because the movement of the water agitated the minerals that filled the water, causing them to glow, but it was still magical to see and feel.

Diving down deep, her eyes still open, RJ could see for yards through the crystal clear water. Kicking her legs, she swam about ten feet down to the bottom and grabbed a large rock, anchoring herself to the lakebed.

Sitting cross-legged, RJ was soon surrounded by small darting fish, there paths marked by the brief streaks of light that they left in their wake, it was mesmerizing, RJ could have done it for hours. But eventually she couldn't ignore the clamoring of her lungs and let go of the rock, kicking off for the surface.

After and hour or so of diving, RJ's stomach was rumbling and she swam back over to the rock ledge that she had originally jumped from and pulled herself halfway out of the water, reaching out for the nylon lunch bag that she had brought with her. Pulling it to her she slid back into the water. Carrying the bag with the strap between her teeth, RJ swam out toward the center of the lake. She swam for over ten minutes before she reached her destination. A flat topped rock that rose above the water by only a few inches.

It was almost completely covered by soft moss, so she was careful as she hauled herself out of the water and onto the rock, not wanting to slip and bang her chin on the ledge. Once on the little island, RJ opened the lunch bag and pulled out a PB and J sandwich, her favorite, and a thermos of juice.

She ate slowly, looking out over the water. Every time the glow started to fade, she would dip her foot into the water and give a little kick, causing it to flare up again.

She had only just finished her sandwich when a soft buzzing sound broke the calm silence. Sighing, RJ put her hand back into the bag and pulled out the Bluetooth that had been nestled at the bottom. Slipping it into her ear she said "Blue-Jay here."

About a week earlier, Blue-Jay had finely caved and giving Batman a way to contact her. She could see the sense in it, him wanting to be able to contact her if he needed to and not have to go looking for her. But that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

"Blue-Jay," it was Batman "I want you in the Batcave in twenty minutes, understand?" and he hung up before she could ask why. Despite being annoyed to no end, RJ put the remains of her lunch, along with the Bluetooth, back into the bag and slid back into the water.

Twenty minutes later she was in full costume and was slipping out of the shadows of the Batcave into the light of the computer, where Batman sat, waiting.

"Why is your hair wet?" was the first thing out of his mouth.

"I was swimming, and I'm doing well, thanks for asking." He didn't reply as she came up beside him and looked at the computer screen. A moment later, however, the screen went black and Batman stood up.

"Come on." Was all he said as he walked away. Blue-Jay clenched her teeth and bit back a sarcastic comment as she followed him. To her surprise, he led her to the batwing. The first time she had ridden in it had been the previous night and then she had been too distracted to really take in the ride, now that her mind was clear she was eager to get a second chance.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they reached it. To her immense annoyance she did not receive and answer, but her anger was pushed from her mind when Batman suddenly stooped, picked her up, and lifted her onto the wing of the plane. A moment later he jumped up and slid into the cockpit, Blue-Jay slipping once again into the passenger seat before he closed the canopy over them.

"Are you going to answer my question?" Blue-Jay asked once they were out of the cave and in the air.

"You'll see." Was all she got. Sitting back, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked grumpily through the glass of the canopy. Not that she could see much, the rain was coming down so heavily that it made it impossible to see anything in any detail, only the shapes of the buildings were visible through a depressing grey veil. With the less than cheerful environment, Blue-Jays gloom deepened.

The silence and heaviness of the atmosphere, combined with the efforts of her long swim quickly caused Blue-Jay's eyes to droop and no matter how hard she fought it, sleep soon came.

* * *

After half an hour of silence, Batman looked back into the passenger seat. They had long-since broken out of the clouds and into the sunlight, and he had begun to wonder why Blue-Jay had not continued to bug him about their destination. He was surprised to find the girl fast asleep.

She was curled up in a tight ball on the seat, her knees tucked up to her chest and her head resting on the armrest with her cape bunched up and made into a make-shift pillow. Her small sides rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm and a small lock of hair that had fallen into her face fluttered gently with each breath she took, making her scrunch up her face slightly when it tickled her nose and cheeks. Batman suddenly found himself thinking that she looked rather cute when she was asleep.

Instinctively, Batman twisted in his seat and reached back, gently lifting the offending strands of silver hair out of her pale face before turning back to the controls.

The sky outside was growing darker as the Batwing went higher and within ten minutes they had left the earths atmosphere behind and Batman turned the plane in the direction of the huge space station that could be seen in the distance: the Watchtower.

* * *

Blue-Jay woke to a sudden jolt that shook her gently. It took a moment before her still sleepy brain worked out that the plane had just landed. She had slept through the whole flight.

Opening her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of a steel ceiling that seemed terrifyingly fermilyer and for a moment she went ridged with horror. But then she heard Batman's voice calling her "Blue-Jay, wake up!" and realized that she was not in the asylum at all, but somewhere else, somewhere were the lighting was much warmer and friendlier. Sitting up and yawning slightly, Blue-Jay streached before standing up and shaking out her cape, looking around.

They were in a huge hanger with several other jets, all bigger than the Batwing, docked not too far away.

Hopping out onto the wing, she was surprised when Batman reached up and lifted her down. "Come on." He said "And don't wander off, you might get lost."

Blue-Jay rolled her eyes "Since when have I ever gotten lost?"

"Never, but there's a first time for everything."

"Right. So where are we?"

"The Justice League Watchtower."

Blue-Jay's eyes went wide "Really!?"

"Since when have I ever lied to you?"

"Never, but there's a first time for everything." She gave him one of her best 'innocent' looks when he looked back at her. "So why did you bring me here?"

"I have discovered some evidence that Bane is recruiting and I want to take care of that before they can get at you."

"Wow, you make it sound as if you really care about me."

He stopped and turned to face her fully, but before he could say anything another voice called out "Hey, Bats'!" and a second later The Flash screeched to an abrupt halt beside them.

"What do you want, Flash?" Batman growled.

"Nice to see you too, Bat's!" the man in red said, cheerfully, then he noticed Blue-Jay "Who's you're friend?"

"Her name is Blue-Jay." Batman said shortly "Blue-Jay, this is the Flash." Blue-Jay held out her hand and Flash shook it. "Now, come on." And he walked off.

"Geeze, what put a twist in _his _tights?" Flash asked, Blue-Jay shrugged before hurrying to catch up.

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(Please Review!) 


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